Man Utd play Tottenham in the Europa League final tonight and Ruben Amorim has explained his team selection.
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19:27, 21 May 2025
Amorim seemed relaxed before kick-off.(Image: TNT Sports)
Ruben Amorim has picked Mason Mount to start for Manchester United against Tottenham in the Europa League final because he provides a "different balance" and "compacts the team."
Amorim has made just one change to the starting team that faced Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last week, with Victor Lindelof coming out of the side to make room for Leny Yoro in defence.
Alejandro Garnacho has been named on the bench again. Garnacho did not start against Chelsea, which suggested he could miss out in the Europa League final, and the youngster will be hopeful of making an impact at some stage.
Bruno Fernandes will partner Casemiro in the midfield pivot, which means Manuel Ugarte is on the bench, and Mount and Amad will support Rasmus Hojlund from the No.10 roles.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off, Amorim said: "I really enjoyed the last two training sessions. And when you have these kind of trainings, you feel relaxed because I trust in the guys."
Amorim discussed his selection, saying: "I feel Mason Mount, in this moment, gives us a different balance because he's really good attacking, but also the way he compacts the team - he is one extra midfielder and you know Tottenham put all the full-backs and midfielders inside with a lot of people overloading that space.
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"So my thinking was that, to have possession and to have a right foot in that position is really important, to also have speed on the bench because we have Amad on the other side. We need legs to change the game.
"If you look at the team, Casemiro is used to playing these types of games, Bruno is always there, Harry Maguire has played in European games for his national team and knows the pressure.
"The final is a different context, a different game. The beginning of the game is really important - to feel the game - and I think we're getting better on that."
When asked about the importance of winning the Europa League, Amorim responded: "It's not going to change so much [in relation to transfers]. It can be a little help to add more if we need, but it's not going to change so much. I think the most important thing is the feeling of winning.
"It's going to help everybody. If you look at Carrington with all the changes, we had staff with us who are no longer there, we need to deliver that feeling in order to give something to everybody.
"I'm not thinking about the money. I'm not worried about the money because we're a big brand, but it's the feeling. We need that feeling, we need to have a connection with people and without trophies, it's really hard to get that connection."
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