Mazraoui details what Man Utd lack in Premier League despite Europa heroics

Daily Mirror

18-05-2025

Manchester United can end a disastrous season with a trophy, as the Red Devils have made it to the final of the Europa League while sat two places above the Premier League relegation zone
Noussair Mazraoui says Manchester United can be proud of their season if they win the Europa League – despite their shocking Premier League form. United have suffered their worst season of the Premier League era, with Ruben Amorim's under-performing side down in 16th place, after 18 defeats this season.
But United can still salvage something from their otherwise miserable season by beating Tottenham in Wednesday's Europa League final in Bilbao. As well as lifting the trophy, the winners will also go straight into next season's Champions League, which is worth up to £100million in revenue.
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And although their domestic form has been pitiful, Mazraoui claimed that will largely be forgotten if Amorim's players are victorious against Spurs. 'Winning a trophy is never easy,' said Mazraoui.
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'I think in any case you don't downgrade that, because you have to fight hard to get into the position to win a trophy. You have to beat opponents who are strong and who are also really hungry to be in that final.
'When you look back at your career, you will look back at this season and you're going to be proud of winning the Europa League, if we win on Wednesday, more than you're going to look at the failure in the Premier League. You can be sure, for sure, you can be proud.'
In contrast to losing almost half of their Premier League games this season, United are the only team that started out in the Europa League or Champions League to remain unbeaten. It is something United defender Mazraoui cannot explain.
'That's something really tough to say, because we always manage in the Europa League to eventually win,' said the Morocco international. 'I think the biggest example was Lyon, where we were almost dead in the last 10 minutes of the game. Extra-time, everybody's tired and everything, and you still manage to win.
'I think one of the biggest differences in the Europa League and the Premier League for us this season is how to manage to win. We maybe have that kind of fighting spirit in the Europa League that we maybe lack in the Premier League.'
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Mazraoui was signed by former United manager Erik ten Hag, who made way for current boss Amorim whose forthright and straight-talking approach has been welcomed by the defender. 'I like him a lot in that respect,' said Mazraoui.
'He's really honest, really straightforward, he's not hiding from anything. That's how I am as well. I'm not hiding behind anything and that's the manager as well.
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'He takes responsibility, he knows he's the head of the club eventually, because he's the manager. That's something I like a lot about him.'
Tottenham have beaten United on all three occasions they have met this season, but Mazraoui claimed that will have no bearing on the outcome of Wednesday's make-or-break showdown.
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'I don't think so, because this is a whole different competition,' said Mazraoui. 'It's the Europa League, it's a final, so the context around it is so different that you can't really compare any previous games with this final.
'Tottenham bring a lot of intensity in their games. We've seen that already this season. That's their biggest quality - they bring so much intensity and pressing in everything they do.'