A Mason Mount-inspired Manchester United booked their place in the Europa League final, where they will face Spurs
Manchester United book Europa League final place — how it happened
Ruben Amorim’s men brought a 3-0 lead into the second leg after winning well in Bilbao a week ago and although Mikel Jauregizar cut the deficit down to two, it was ultimately light work for the hosts.
Mason Mount starred for United off the bench with two goals that bookended Casemiro’s header and Rasmus Hojlund’s close-range finish.
It meant they won 7-1 on aggregate and secured their return to Bilbao for the final, against Tottenham on May 21.
Which teams have made the three European finals?
We will be covering all of these finals right here on The Athletic.
Valverde: This tie wasn’t a walk in the park for United
on aggregate over those two legs. They certainly didn’t deserve to go through but, equally, they didn’t deserve to lose that heavily in either game.
He spoke to TNT Sports:
💬 “The tie wasn’t a walk in the park for United in either the first or second leg.
“It was much more even than the scoreline suggests, but we can’t allow those final 10 minutes to give the fans cause for celebration, much less the opposition.
“Playing in Europe requires a lot of focus. We’re not a team like the classic Champions League teams, who can win at 70 per cent, we have to fight, run a lot, and play very close.”
Amorim: It means nothing if we don’t win the final
Ruben Amorim, as he has done all season, reiterated to TNT Sports that this European campaign is nothing but an irrelevance if they don’t lift the trophy.
💬 “I’m just worried about the next game, trying to not get any injuries for the final. If we don’t win the final, it means nothing for us.
“We have to have a full squad (in the final), stay in the game and have a bit of luck and we have to be clinical.
“It’s quite similar for me and Ange (Tottenham manager Postecoglou). It is a tough moment (for us both) and one of us is going to win. It’s going to be a big final and we will try to win.”
Will Amorim crown his debut season with a trophy?
There will be something of a salvation for Ruben Amorim and Manchester United if they can end their wretched domestic season with a major European trophy.
The United boss is the first manager to reach a major European final in his first season in charge of an English club since Thomas Tuchel in the 2020-2021 Champions League.
And the last United manager to do that was Jose Mourinho in the 2016-17 Europa League.
Both Tuchel and Mourinho won those finals…