Man Utd lost their opening match in the Europa League

Coach Jose Mourinho and his team suffered a 0-1 defeat when they traveled to the Netherlands to visit Feyenoord in the opening match of Group A of the Europa League on the night of September 15.

When the final whistle blew, coach Jose Mourinho quickly walked into the tunnel with an angry face. The Portuguese strategist was not happy with the bitter defeat in his first match leading Man Utd to play in the continental tournament.

On Dutch soil, Man Utd played slightly better than the home team. They controlled the ball 53% of the time, fired 13 shots (compared to eight of the opponent). However, the most important thing was the goal, which coach Mourinho's team did not have. Meanwhile, Feyenoord won all three points thanks to Tonny Vilhena's finish after a quick counter-attack in the 79th minute. This goal was somewhat unfair to Man Utd because the slow-motion video showedJorgensen was offside before receiving the ball, creating an assist for his teammate to score.

Tonny Vihena became Feyenoord's hero when he scored the only goal of the match. Photo: Reuters

Coach Jose Mourinho did not use his strongest squad in Man Utd's opening match in the Europa League. He left Wayne Rooney, Luke Shaw, Antonio Valencia out of the squad, leaving Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Memphis Depay on the bench. However, the away team still had a better squad with De Gea, Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial...

Man Utd started the match slowly, unable to control the game. The away team even often let the opponent threaten De Gea's goal with attacks on the flanks. It was not until the 24th minute that Mourinho's students had their first significant opportunity when Darmian joined the attack, passing the ball for Martial to finish. However, the French striker shot wide when in a favorable position.

Man Utd played deadlocked, so in the 63rd minute, coach Mourinho decided to make three personnel changes. Ibrahimovic, Depay, Young were brought in to replace Martial, Rashford, Mata with the hope of creating new vitality for the attacking front. However, when the new elements had not found a way to penetrate Feyenoord's defense, Man Utd had to concede a goal. The away team's players lost the ball in the middle of the field, creating conditions for Feyenoord to organize a quick counterattack in the 79th minute. Jorgensen escaped down the right wing before passing the ball back to the second line toVilhena had a perfect shot forcing goalkeeper De Gea to go into the net to pick the ball up.

During the match, coach Mourinho repeatedly expressed his dissatisfaction with his players on the sidelines. Photo: Reuters

After conceding the goal, Man Utd pushed up their attacking formation. But on a bad day, when trump cards like Pogba and Ibrahimovic were almost "missing" on the field, Coach Mourinho's team was powerless to find a way into Feyenoord's goal. Losing 0-1 in the Netherlands, the atmosphere in Man Utd's dressing room was even heavier because they had just suffered a 1-2 defeat in the Manchester derby.

According to VNE