4 hours Ago
Man United booked their spot in the knockout round of the Europa League courtesy of their success in Romania, and it proved to be a fifth straight success for the 20-time English champions in the competition. The Red Devils have now beaten Bodo/Glimt, Viktoria Plzen, Rangers and FCSB in Europe since Amorim's arrival, and the Portuguese has become the club's second manager after the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson to win his first four major European games in charge. Ferguson's four came during the 1990-91 Cup Winners' Cup, which Man United went on to win, and Amorim will be looking to lead the Red Devils to success in the Europa League this term.
The team finished the league phase with a record of five wins and three draws from eight matches, which saw them claim third in the Europa League table , one point behind the leaders Lazio. © Imago "That is massive for us. The joy of winning, the feeling of winning, but we will have two [free] weeks to work on our idea and to prepare for the games.
It's really massive for us. We are in the next stage, we are going to prepare for the next stage, but the most important thing now is to recover. Sunday, we have a game with our fans and we have to be ready for that," he told reporters after the clash.
"It's [becoming] more natural, the feeling of winning. That's really important. You can feel the dressing room is more relaxed but more relaxed in a good way because we know that everything can change on Sunday, but you feel it's a different environment.
You want to keep that feeling to work in a better way. "We played quite well but a bit more slowly, also the opposition were really close in the first half and they covered all the spaces. They pressed the three defenders with just one player but we've managed to create some chances.
"We didn't score but then, in the second half, you can see the opponents getting tired and slower when covering the space. We had more space with Kobbie [Mainoo] between the lines and one-on-one with Amad [Diallo] and the pace of Alejandro Garnacho . I think it helped an awful lot.
We managed to score two and we should score more. We had positions, sometimes four v two, and we have to do more with this kind of play." © Imago Mainoo starred as one of the number 10s, setting up Diogo Dalot for the opener before scoring himself, and Amorim was full of praise for the England international's performance on Thursday night.
"Diogo has already had some chances in different games. Kobbie Mainoo played in a different position, with more freedom, more near the box. He's so technical, he can change the game there.
So, I think it's a good position for him, we will see," he said. "But I'm happy to see Kobbie enjoy the game more. Sometimes, he's worrying about the recovery [runs], trying to defend and I know that he's trying.
Today, I felt Kobbie enjoyed the game more and I am happy for that." Man United will be aiming to make it four straight wins in all competitions when they continue their Premier League campaign at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday afternoon, before hosting Leicester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on February 7..
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