A documentary on Manchester United’s 99 treble: How coach Amorim drew inspiration from Sir Alex Ferguson and his team in United 5-4 win over Lyon | Football News

While Manchester United scripted a horic come from behind 5-4 win in the Europa League quarter-finals at Old Trafford last night, coach Rubem Amorim has revealed he had watched the Amazon Prime documentary ‘99’ made on United’s dramatic 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions Trophy final in 1999 prior to the Thursday’s match. The then Sir Alex Ferguson coached side had lifted the Champions Trophy to make the treble after winning the Premier League and FA Cup. United were trailing 0-1 till the 90th minute in the 1999 final before goals Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer led the team to their second Champions League trophy and first under Ferguson. On Thursday night, United, who once trailed 2-4 scored two goals in the final minute of extra time to score a 5-4 win at Old Trafford and 7-6 aggregate win to advance to the semi-finals.
“I was watching the 1999 documentary to have some inspiration for these moments. It was a great night, the team were tired, 4-2 with one more player, we thought it’s over, but here it’s never over. Here everything is possible, you feel the environment. At 4-3, after the Bruno Fernandes penalty, we felt we could change the game. This is one type of moment that can change a lot of things. Sometimes we just look at the tactical and physical aspect. But these moments can change a lot in the players’ minds,” Amorim told TNT Sports.
After goals Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot in the first half had put United 2-0 ahead, goals Corentin Tolisso and Alexandre Lacazette for Lyon resulted in the match going into extra time. Lyon would take the lead with Mathis Cherki before Lacazette scored via penalty with 11 minutes remaining. As United fans started to leave the stadium, Bruno Fernandes scored the third goal for United via a penalty before Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire scored one goal each in the last minute of extra time to hand United a famous win.
Story continues below this ad

“I feel for the people that had to leave when it was 4-2 [to Lyon] because of the traffic. They will be gutted! The sound in the stadium for Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire’s goals was the best sound I have ever (heard). A lot of people want to keep shirts, I just want to keep that sound. It is the best sound in the world,” Amorim added further.

United will now face Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semi-finals next month. The team is currently 14th in the points table in the Premier League. Amorim talked about the disappointment faced the team and the importance of Thursday’s win. “I think that’s why we like this sport so much and all the frustration that the coach has in this kind of season, the frustration the bad moments, when you had moment like this it’s all worth it, then you finish, we have a game on Sunday, we have to see all the players if they are fit to play because we have to focus on Europa League.” Amorim told the media after the match.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd

Expand