Jose Mourinho: Manchester United would exchange Europa League title for victims’ lives

Ajax Amsterdam coach Peter Bosz was disappointed by his team’s performance in their 2-0 defeat by Manchester United in Wednesday’s Europa League final, but vowed to learn from United’s physical display and come back stronger.

Goals from France global Pogba and Armenia’s Henrik Mkhitaryan in each half gave United their first European trophy since 2007-2008, and their first Europa League crown.

Still, Mourinho says he has done “nothing” at Old Trafford compared to Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, although he says he has got 15 years left to catch up. Manchester United players came to play in this match with black badge.

United are seeking to win the only trophy they have never won and, in doing so, secure a place in next season’s Champions League, having failed to qualify via the Premier League. I wish Mr Woodward all the success in his work because now it’s time for me to disconnect, because I’m very exhausted.

In sporting terms, though, this was a key victory at the end of an arduous 64-game season for United.

“Does this cup make the city of Manchester a little bit happier?”

“It was hard to train but the manager told us the only thing we could do was to win it for them”, he added.

“So I think the season was really good”.

Despite not being a big fan of Man U, I think they totally deserve to compete in the Champions League. Mourinho generally hits his stride in his second seasons at clubs and he will set his sights no lower in 2017-18 than winning a fourth Premier League title and third Champions League trophy.

“We got the objective, we are back in the Champions League by winning a title, an important title”.

“We played for England, we played for Manchester, and we played for the people who died”.

“We performed like a big club, a big team”, United midfielder Ander Herrera said after the Europa League final, sounding every inch a future captain of the team. Mourinho agreed with European governing body UEFA’s decision to allow the match to go ahead, but said the victory would always be associated with sad thoughts about what happened in Manchester.

The game, meanwhile, pitted the youngest starting XI in the history of European finals (with an average age of just 22 years and 282 days) against one of the most expensive teams ever assembled. The supporters meanwhile responded in the way they know best, by singing.