Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Mourinho proud of United spirit
JOSE Mourinho is proud of the way Manchester United pulled together to win the Europa League, embracing the spirit shown by those in their home city since Monday’s terror attack.
Fans, players and staff stood unbowed at the Friends Arena as United faced Ajax two days after 22 people were killed and many more i njured i n a bombing at Manchester Arena.
Football seems trivial at a time of such pain but United won for their city in Stockholm, where Mourinho’s men beat Ajax 2-0 to lift the Europa League.
“You know, it i s really hard,” the United boss said of the tragic backdrop.
“That’s why we didn’t want t o have the press conference because we had to prepare ourselves to do our job and to try to forget events that are obviously much more important than our job.
“But the world goes on, it doesn’t stop and we have to do our work.
“I ag r e e w i t h U e f a ’s decision to play the match but, you know, if we have questions like your question (about the importance of winning the game for the city) that made us return to this tragedy, obviously it takes happiness from our achievement.
“If we could, we would chang e obviously the people’s lives for this cup — immediately, we wouldn’t think twice.
“Does this cup make the city of Manchester a bit happier? Maybe.
“We just came to do our job and t he boys were fantastic because t hey blocked (it out), they put a wall in front of their eyes and they stay isolated from everything.”