Getting back into the Uefa Champions League was Manchester United's biggest goal this season and they achieved that by winning the UEFA Europa League last night in Stockholm. Having missed out on getting into the top four in the English Premier League, United had to win the Europa League and they did it in style, in spite of missing plenty of key players. United manager Jose Mourinho went all out to win the Europa League and he is a relieved man now.
A comfortable victory
The final game of any competition is supposed to be tough, but Manchester United made it look easy right from the start.
The result seemed a foregone conclusion as soon as their record-signing Paul Pogba opened the scoring in the 18th minute with a crisp finish. Jose Mourinho completely shut Ajax down with his defensive tactics as United strolled to victory. Henrikh Mkhitaryan's goal in the 48th minute put the tie to bed early on in the second half and Manchester United were on their way to playing the UEFA Champions League in the 2017-18 season. The victory was even more meaningful as it came 48 hours after the horrific terror attack in Manchester and the players dedicated their victory to the people of the city.
"We preferred to reach the Champions League this way than finish fourth, third or second," Mourinho said.
"We got the objective. We are back in the Champions League by winning a title, an important title. The club now has every title in world football. We fought hard for this since the beginning. We always thought that we could win the Europa League, and we are very happy."
Real work starts now
In spite of winning the community shield, the league cup and the Europa League, the 2016-17 season was a disappointing one for United due to their poor show in the league.
They needed to get back into the Champions League in order to build the foundation for the next season, but the real work for the club starts now. They will need to recruit well in order to plug the holes in the squad. Manchester United will also have to get rid of underperforming players if they want to build a squad that will be able to fight on all fronts next season.
In addition to that, star manager Jose Mourinho would also want to have a team of his own with the majority of players being his own signing. We will see if Mourinho can turn United into a winning machine like he did with Chelsea, Real Madrid and Inter Milan. He would not have any shortage of funds when it comes to recruitment and the club will back him all the way.
