Comparing Man Utd's 2017 Europa League winners to Solskjaer's current crop

Of the 11 players who lined up for Manchester United at the Friends Arena in Stockholm four years ago, only four still play for the club.

Four could become two before long. Sergio Romero and Juan Mata are both out of contract this summer, which would leave Paul Pogba and Marcus Rashford as the last remnants of Jose Mourinho's Europa League-winning team.

Antonio Valencia, Chris Smalling, Daley Blind, Matteo Darmian, Ander Herrera, Marouane Fellaini and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have all moved on, with Valencia now retired.

Of the three substitutes that came on that night, Anthony Martial is in his sixth season at Old Trafford - though he could also depart this summer - Jesse Lingard has just called time on a successful loan spell at West Ham and Wayne Rooney now manages Derby County.

It's a reminder of how much has changed over the last four years. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer leads his side out in Gdansk on Wednesday evening, he can be confident that he has a stronger, more cohesive team at his disposal than Mourinho did when he won United's last European trophy.

Up against a youthful Ajax side including leading lights like Matthijs de Ligt and Hakim Ziyech, United won the 2017 final in relatively straightforward fashion. Pogba opened the scoring with a deflected strike in the first half and, while the Dutch giants had the majority of the ball, Mkhitaryan killed the game soon after the restart with a clever flick.

While Villarreal could make for tricky opponents, there's good reason to think that United are in a stronger position this time around. For one, they have been much more consistent this term, finishing as Premier League runners-up where Mourinho's side ended up sixth.

Mourinho had already won the League Cup that season, while Solskjaer is still looking to get his hands on his first major honour as United manager. Still, even if Mourinho's side had a slight psychological advantage in that sense, it's hard to argue that, man-for-man, they were a better team.

As Mourinho's Europa League keeper, Romero got the nod ahead of David de Gea in Stockholm. De Gea should start ahead of Dean Henderson this time around, which represents a significant improvement.

While Solskjaer has now admitted that Harry Maguire is unlikely to feature in Gdansk, he can still field a relatively strong back line. Few would swap Aaron Wan-Bissaka and a resurgent Luke Shaw for Darmian and Valencia at full-back and, while Solskjaer's likely centre-back pairing of Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly might not be his first choice, Mourinho was missing a handful of defenders in 2017 and eventually opted to partner Chris Smalling alongside Daley Blind.

It's in midfield and attack that Solskjaer's side seems most superior to its predecessor. While Herrera had the game of his life against Ajax and was named man of the match, Fellaini was more functional than Scott McTominay or Fred and left Pogba with a lot to do in front of him.

This time around, United have Bruno Fernandes in attacking midfield and, with 28 goals to his name this term, nobody in the 2017 Europa League-winning side really compares. He alone makes Solskjaer's team seem like a far more exceptional proposition.

Up front, where Mourinho started Mata and Mkhitaryan either side of a teenage Rashford, Solskjaer will most likely deploy Pogba and Rashford out wide and start Edinson Cavani through the middle.

Mourinho's front three got 32 goals between them in all competitions that season, where Solskjaer's have 43. He also has the option of bringing Mason Greenwood off the bench, with the 19-year-old contributing a further 12 goals to the team this season.

All in all, United are a far more convincing team now than they were four years ago. For Solskjaer, the task is to show that he can turn that superiority into silverware.