Mourinho: 'This season is a failure if we don't win the Europa League'

Man Utd need to beat Ajax in the upcoming final to secure a ticket to the Champions League, as they have very little chance of finishing in the top four of the Premier League this season.

United will face Ajax in the Europa League final in Stockholm, Sweden, on 24 May after beating Celta Vigo in the semi-finals. This is Mourinho's chance to give United the only major trophy the club has never won. The Portuguese won the League Cup and Community Shield in his first season at Old Trafford. But United have been disappointing in the Premier League, finishing sixth after 35 games.

Asked if he thought Man Utd would be considered failures this season if they don't win the Europa League, Mourinho replied: "Yes. I think you have the right to say that. And I think people are right to judge like that."

Mourinho and Man Utd have won the Community Shield and the League Cup, but still need more titles in the Europa League to make up for the team's weakness in the Premier League. Photo: Reuters.

“But I don’t feel that way. I don’t want the players to feel that way. I don’t think the board feels that way. Because we’ve worked very hard. This season I’ve probably worked harder than ever. When I analyse, I don’t think negatively in that way. But if I were in your shoes, I would probably say that this season was a failure if we didn’t win the Europa League.”

“We won the League Cup, the Community Shield. Until a series of injuries hit, we were still fighting and had a good chance of finishing in the top four of the Premier League. We have done things at this club that perhaps no one else has done in their first season.

“I won a cup, I went 25 games without losing in the Premier League, I reached a European final. But if I were in your shoes, people who are always looking for things that can be highlighted in the newspapers, I would accept that you would say that Man Utd failed this season if they did not win the Europa League,” Mourinho added.

Asked why he said he had never had a harder job than this season, Mourinho replied: “Sometimes you join big clubs in difficult times, so the job is harder than if you join a smaller club in a positive boom.

I had a very difficult season, with some invisible work in your eyes. But when I analyse my work, I know what I did better than anyone. I know what I had to do. But I accept the fact that in your eyes, specific football results lead to comments.”

At 10:30 p.m. today, Sunday, May 14, Hanoi time, Man Utd will visit Tottenham in round 37 of the Premier League.

According to VNE