Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has pinpointed his side’s physicality as the reason behind their dominance in the Europa League this season.
United thrashed 10-man Real Sociedad 4-1 at Old Trafford in their second-leg tie to secure passage to the competition’s last eight, and maintain their status as the only unbeaten team in Europe this term.
Bruno Fernandes hit a hat-trick, including two penalties, to help United ease past the Spanish outfit. Diogo Dalot also got on the score sheet, with a spectacular late finish.
The Red Devils can now look forward to a quarter-final tie against Ligue 1 club Lyon, after an extremely positive performance which kept alive their hopes of winning silverware during what has been a challenging campaign domestically.
After the win over Sociedad, Amorim spoke to TNT Sports and hailed his players’ physicality, which he said has given them a little bit of an advantage on the European stage.
“It was a complete week. We showed a little bit the future [stadium announcement], without the problems of the present and then today we had a good performance from our team.”
“I think the physicality was there and this competition is completely different. We can be the dominant team in physicality so we are learning about us in different competitions and how to win games…sometimes how to draw games to win some points.”
“It was a tough week but a good week.”
Asked whether the fact he doesn’t have a lot of players to choose from has slightly helped him and United over the past few weeks, Amorim answered, “Like I said, I’m also learning how to use players like Casemiro.”
“Like you said, without a lot of options we are trying to put our players in the best positions that help us. I think you can feel that they have more freedom and then because of one game in Spain that we tried to use the pace of Garnacho on the right and he showed me so many things on the right…”
“Maybe he’s better there than the left. So I;m trying to find the best solution for the team and that helps us to play all the time with the same team.”
“It was hard. We lost a bit of pace at the end of games but we are learning.”
“We are learning about us, about different competitions, how to win games”
Ruben Amorim and his Man United squad are still a work in progress, but have started improving 💪
🎙@JulesBreach | 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/pWWDSXHq0A
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 13, 2025
United are back in action on Sunday when they take on Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. Kick-off is at 19:00 GMT.
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
