Ruben Amorim will take charge of his first European final when Manchester United face Tottenham in Bilbao.
While Manchester United’s Premier League form has been terrible, Ruben Amorim has been flawless in Europe and has reached the Europa League final.
United will face Tottenham in Bilbao in less than a week and the transfer plans this summer heavily rely on the trophy being brought back to Old Trafford.
Amorim has begun planning for Tottenham with the knowledge that United have lost three times to the North London outfit already this season.
Photo by James Gill - Danehouse/Getty Images
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Ruben Amorim’s managerial record in cup finals
Ineos chose to replace Erik ten Hag with Amorim in November due to his impressive results in Portugal in charge of Sporting Lisbon.
Amorim won Sporting’s first league title in 19 years in 2021 and added another league trophy to his cabinet in 2024.
He has also won three Taca da Liga trophies – equivalent to Portugal’s League Cup. Two while in charge of Sporting and one as manager of Braga.
Overall, Amorim has taken charge of seven cup finals as a manager, winning four of them. Alongside his three League Cup victories, he also lifted Portugal’s Supercup in 2021.
Cup finals played Wins Defeats Goals scored Goals conceded
7 4 3 10 10
Ruben Amorim’s record as a manager in cup finals.
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Amorim’s latest cup final came at the start of the 2024/25 season when his Sporting side as league champions faced Porto in the Supercup match. Despite taking a 3-0 lead in 24 minutes, Porto produced a remarkable comeback to win 4-3 in extra time.
His previous Supercup game in 2021 saw Amorim win 2-1 against his former side Braga with United target Pedro Goncalves scoring the winner.
In Amorim’s only Portugal Cup final (Taca de Portugal) he lost 2-1 to Porto in extra time after Sporting’s goalscorer Jeremiah Israel St.Juste was sent off in the 29th minute – just nine minutes after scoring the opener.
The Taca de Liga (League Cup) has been a successful hunting ground for Amorim, winning three of his four finals in that competition.
He won his first with Braga in 2019/20 when Ricardo Horta scored a 95th-minute goal to win 1-0. A year later, Amorim was sent off against Braga, but his Sporting side won 1-0 in the final. He then won the competition for a third year in a row in 2021/22 when Sporting came from behind to beat Benfica 2-1.
However, his attempt to win four in a row fell short when Porto beat Sporting 2-0 in 2022/23. Paulinho was sent off for Sporting in the 72nd minute.
Ruben Amorim head-to-head against Ange Postecoglou
While Amorim is inexperienced in European finals, so is his opponent on Wednesday evening Ange Postecoglou.
The Spurs boss enjoyed most of his success in Scotland with Celtic, where he won two league titles, one Scottish Cup and two Scottish League Cups.
Before that, Postecoglou spent his time managing in Japan and Australia. Wednesday will also be his first European cup final as a manager.
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So far this season, Tottenham have beaten Amorim’s United twice. United lost 1-0 to Spurs in the Premier League back in February and the North London side also knocked the Red Devils out the Carabao Cup with a 4-3 win back in December.
Amorim and Postecoglou are taking different approaches to the final, with the latter choosing to rest his key players ready for the trip to Bilbao.