Manchester United look to save their season when they face Tottenham in the final of the Europa League on Wednesday night, with the winners in the battle of Premier League under-performers earning silverware and a Champions League spot
Ruben Amorim says Manchester United fans are so determined to get to the Europa League final they will go “swimming” to Bilbao. United take on Tottenham in the all-or-nothing final on Wednesday - with the winners bagging a £100million place in next season’s Champions League.
And with 50,000 United fans set to descend on Bilbao - with only 14,000 allocated tickets, not to mention the nightmare prices for hotels and travel to the Basque country - Amorim said they will go to any lengths to watch their team.
“With our fans, it's not a surprise for me,” said Amorim. “They will go swimming to Bilbao if needed to, even without a ticket. I already know! A big thank-you for everything they did during the season. We will do our best to give something to them.
“It’s hard. It’s not enough, winning the Europa League. It’s not enough for all the support the fans gave us this season.
“But we’re really excited for the final. It's really important, massive for us, and we want to give that to our fans.
“I feel it's a mixed feeling. I'm really excited but, at the same time, I know my responsibility as Manchester United coach. I have always that feeling of frustration for the season, so I want really badly to help the team win this final. We've got to give something to the club, to the fans, to the staff, to everybody.”
Amorim also said he will have no problem axing some of his stars from the starting line-up on Wednesday night.
“It’s not a good thing for any player to hear that, but I'm quite comfortable with that, it's my job,” said Amorim. “I think the problem we have in some games this season, we had a lot of players out from injury. So it doesn't matter if you play one minute in the final.
“Of course, you want to play 90 minutes, but the important thing is to win.
“If we win, all the players are going to win this final and they all played in the Europa League, so that is the most important thing.”