Ruben Amorim thought Manchester United were the better team in the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur, but were ultimately punished for not being able to find the net.
The Reds lost 1-0 in Bilbao with Brennan Johnson's first-half goal the difference in a tense clash that had been very much in the balance before Spurs struck on the stroke of half-time.
United took more control in the second half, as our London opponents surrendered territory and sought to hold their advantage, but despite sustaining an increase of pressure and creating more opportunities, the Reds couldn't find the all-important equaliser to stop Hotspur winning the silverware.
Amorim says his side gave everything to find a route back into the contest and is devastated with the result, which means we'll end the season trophy-less and without Champions League football for next term.
He's been reflecting on the encounter at San Mames Stadium while conducting his post-match media duties, and you can read a round-up of the key quotes from those interviews with broadcasters below...
“We are obviously devastated with this loss. We lost one game in this competition, we didn’t win it in the last game. I think if you look at the whole game, we were the better team but if you don’t score goals you don’t win matches.”
TWO DIFFERENT HALVES
“The first half was a little bit tense. Possession for both teams was not long, we couldn’t keep the ball for so long, Tottenham were the same. A lot of second balls. But in the second half, we push, we push the opponent to near the box, we tried to cross, to create situations. In the end, they defend the goal they scored in the first half. In the second half, we tried everything but in the end it was not enough.”
NO SUBS UNTIL LAST 20 MINUTES
“I think you saw the same thing, we started the second half quite well so changing just for people just to see I changed something is not my way of doing things. We were on top of the game and when I felt like we needed a different player, I put [in] a different player.”
TONIGHT IS ABOUT DEALING WITH THE PAIN
“Next [objective] is to develop the club but tonight is to just to deal with the pain and then we’ll have time to assess the season. We have one more game, we need to close this season and then think about the future.”
NEXT SEASON WITHOUT CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
“It’s hard to talk about positives today but we need to take advantage of everything. We are going to suffer because we don’t have Champions League and it’s hard on the club, but on the other side we will have more time to develop the team, to pay attention to our Academy and to prepare for the future. That is clear. We need to use every minute to improve the team and we always have plans to go to the summer.”
CONFIDENT OF TURNING THINGS AROUND
“I’m confident that I’m still the guy, more than the beginning. I know that it’s going to be tough, I know we lost against an English team, I know the patience of the fans is going to be really short in the next season but I guarantee you I will not quit, I will not go away, I am really confident. [I am more confident now] because I know the club, I know what it means to coach this club, I understand what the team needs so I have more tools to do my job.”