Newspaper round-up after Manchester United are crowned Europa League champions

Sport360 staff 09:56 25/05/2017

Manchester United secured Champions League football for next season after crushing Ajax 2-0 in the Europa League final in Stockholm on Wednesday.

The victory came amid the backdrop of swirling emotions following the attacks in Manchester with football a mechanism in helping to unite the city.

Here, we take a look at how the British media assessed the European success for Jose Mourinho’s side.

THE MIRROR

He knew the importance of an unimportant match. It might have been a different Mourinho but it was a familiar Mourinho team.

Each and every one knew what they were meant to be doing, each and every one did it to the letter of their manager’s law.

They performed with the physical and mental commitment you would expect, swollen by the circumstances.

A very poignant piece penned by Andy Dunn

THE GUARDIAN

It culminated with Wayne Rooney running on as a last-minute substitute so he was in place to lift the trophy that had come their way because of the goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

If this was Rooney’s goodbye it was a nice way to go and none of those players cavorting about the pitch will care that Bosz called it a “boring game”. Mourinho made his own point.

“There are many poets in football,” he said. “But poets – they don’t win many titles.”

Daniel Taylor on the possibility of Wayne Rooney’s exit

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

When the stadium managers, who showed great empathy, confused the crowd by calling for a minute’s silence after the audience had already tried to observe one, the United end boomed with chants of “Manchester, Manchester”.

People punched the air and jumped as they sang.

You could see the emotion bursting out of spectators shouting not for their team so much as their violated city.

A long red banner rippled up the tiers: “Manchester – a City United – prayformanchester”.

Paul Hayward says United honoured a promise to their community with victory.

Recommended