Manchester United are, improbably, 90 minutes away from qualifying for next season’s Champions League after a 7-1 aggregate win over Athletic Bilbao to set up a Europa League final against Tottenham.
Ruben Amorim’s men, who have endured a terrible Premier League campaign, came into Thursday’s second leg at Old Trafford with a comfortable 3-0 cushion.
But the 4-1 scoreline gives a misleading impression of the match as the nervy home side struggled to gain a foothold after falling behind to a superb Mikel Jauregizar strike in the first half.
A triple substitution shortly after the hour mark changed the game, with substitute Mason Mount scoring two eye-catching goals and Amad Diallo creating havoc on the right.
Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund scored the other goals as the nerves disappeared at Old Trafford, giving way to a raucous party atmosphere.
“I think if you look at both games, it was so much tougher than if you look just to the result,” said Amorim.
“We have so many weaknesses and you can understand that in the game, but we are fighting and we managed to pass. I think we deserve, if you look at the two games, to be in the final.”
In the final, United will face Tottenham, who beat Norwegian champions Bodo/Glimt 5-1 on aggregate.
Amorim, who replaced the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, admitted the showpiece in Bilbao later this month would be his biggest match so far at the club.
“The money (in the Champions League) is not the most important, even the title,” he said.
“To win a title as a coach is that feeling. It’s that feeling that we can do good things, the feeling to give something to our fans, especially in this kind of season.”
Premier League slump
United are heading for their worst finish in the English top-flight since they were relegated in 1974, though they cannot go down this season.
But it has been a radically different story in Europe, where they are the only team unbeaten in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League.
The fact that United are pinning all their hopes on Europe’s second-tier club competition is a sign of how far they have fallen since they were regularly competing at the sharp end of the Champions League.
They reached four Champions League finals under former manager Alex Ferguson, winning two of them.
Ex-Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, now FIFA’s head of global football development, believes it is not appropriate that the Europa League winners qualify for the Champions League.
This is especially because five English teams will qualify for Europe’s top club competition through the Premier League.
Rival teams will balk at the presence of United or Tottenham in next season’s Champions League after their dire league form.
Both teams are guaranteed to finish outside of the European qualification places in the Premier League, with United currently in 15th and Spurs in 16th.
But the rules are set and both clubs have the chance to finish on a high.
Tottenham have beaten United three times this season, twice in the Premier League and once in the League Cup, but Amorim is not unduly perturbed.
“Every game has its history. So, we lost the three last games, we can win this one,” said the former Sporting Lisbon boss.
“So, if you look at the odds, we are closer to win than to lose. Both teams are going to play like all or nothing in this kind of game. It’s quite similar. The position of the coach is quite similar.
“I know that (Spurs manager) Ange (Postecoglou) has been there for one more year. It is different, the context, but we are struggling, both of us. So, I don’t know what is going to happen.”
AFP
