Ruben Amorim has revealed that Victor Lindelof had to leave Old Trafford due to a ‘personal problem’ during Manchester United’s pulsating Europa League quarter-final victory over Lyon.
The Red Devils looked to be crashing out of the competition as ten-man Lyon fought back from going two down on the night to take a 4-2 lead in extra-time, after a 2-2 draw in the first leg.
Corentin Tolisso – the player later sent off – and Nicolas Tagliafico struck to cancel out Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot’s first-half efforts, before Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette hit the target to give the visitors a two-goal buffer in the dying moments.
But the hosts completed a stunning turnaround as Bruno Fernandes converted from the penalty spot before substitute Kobbie Mainoo found the back of the net with a sumptuous strike beyond Lucas Perri.
United threw everyone forward as penalties loomed and the home team were rewarded for their efforts as Harry Maguire headed home a 121st-minute winner to spark pandemonium at the Theatre of Dreams.
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The remarkable 7-6 win on aggregate keeps United’s Champions League qualification hopes alive and kicking, with Amorim’s men set to do battle with Athletic Bilbao for a place in the final of Europe’s second-tier competition.
‘It was hard. I was watching again the ’99 documentary to have some inspiration for these moments,’ a visibly drained Amorim told TNT Sports just moments after the drama had concluded.
‘But it was a great night. I think the team were tired and you feel it during the game.
‘Then it was 4-2 with one more player and, in the end, you think it’s over. But here, it’s never over.’
Asked whether he always believed his side could turn it around, Amorim replied: ‘Here, everything is possible.
‘You feel the environment and then after the 4-3, the penalty from Bruno, you feel that you can change the game.’
After being named among the substitutes, Lindelof was seen getting himself ready at the halfway stage and had been in line to replace Noussair Mazraoui for the second period.
But the Sweden defender received some personal news just moments before the restart and Amorim was forced to send on Luke Shaw instead.
‘When you are here, you can feel that playing in the Premier League and European games is really hard if you don’t have the full squad. It’s almost impossible,’ the United head coach added.
‘Mason Mount brought us experience. You can see Luke Shaw, he was supposed to play 30 minutes tops but then we had a problem with news at half-time. Vic [Lindelof] has a personal problem, he had to leave, so all this stuff happened during the game. But in the end it was a good result.’
Though understandably delighted to advance through, Amorim conceded that there was ‘a lot to improve’ going forward.
‘I think we started well but we are not really consistent to maintain the game in the same way for a long time. And then when I feel the team is a little bit tired we drop a lot,’ the Portuguese continued.
‘We have experienced games against Arsenal and City, we can defend quite well in these moments.
‘I think we should do better with the two goals of Lyon, but that’s it. We have a lot to improve but the character was there.’
Amorim added: ‘Of course [it’s frustrating] because it’s a reflection of the coach is the league.
‘You can be good in European games but your reflection as a team is the league and we are underperforming.
‘But then we have to see the context. You can see that we lack of lot of the characteristics in our team.
‘You want to push forward. You see Garna [Garnacho] really tired but you feel during the game that he’s the only one that can make transitions.’
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