Mourinho: Deserving of the title 'King of the Final'

(Baonghean.vn) - Including the Europa League final against Ajax, coach Jose Mourinho's statistical winning rate in finals is up to 85.7%.

In England alone, Jose Mourinho has participated in 5 tournament finals with The Blues and Man Utd, including 4 in the League Cup and 1 FA Cup. All of them were won.

On the continental front, in the 3 times he brought his team to the final, Jose Mourinho has kept a perfect record with 2 Champions League titles with Porto and Inter Milan, and the remaining is 1 UEFA Cup championship (predecessor of Europa League) with Porto.

Simple strategy but hard to break

Except for Smalling replacing the suspended Eric Bailly, compared to the 2 semi-final matches against Celta Vigo, Jose Mourinho only made 1 change in the starting lineup.

Juan Mata started in place of Lingard to play alongside Mkhitaryan and Rashford in attack. Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera shared the burden in midfield. Realizing that full-back Nick Viergever was suspended, Jose Mourinho let Man Utd continuously penetrate Ajax's left flank, which was occupied by 20-year-old defender Jairo Riedewald.

Two new recruits Mkhitaryan and Pogba brought the third Cup of the season to the Europa League Champion. Photo: Internet

Understanding the mentality of Ajax's young squad eager to win, coach Mourinho let Man Utd play an attacking pressing game, attacking first. Man Utd players quickly closed in, making it impossible for Ajax's midfield to hold the ball. Man Utd continuously stuffed the ball up front for Mkhitaryan or Rashford to accelerate, or passed the ball high for Fellaini to "make a wall" and pass the ball to his teammates.

Man Utd's simple but direct style of play helped them score early in each half. The first goal was a long-range shot from Pogba, which deflected off centre-back Sanchez and left goalkeeper Onana helpless. The second goal came from a corner kick. Mkhitaryan turned and hooked the ball into the Ajax net from close range from Smalling's pass.

Once he scored, coach Jose Mourinho had the opportunity to assert his "brand" with his ability to organize a concentrated defense. Ajax's attacking trio of Bertrand Traore, Amin Younes and the most expected striker Kasper Dolberg struggled to find a way into goalkeeper Sergio Romero's goal.

Even when coach Bosz sent Neres, Van De Beek and De Jong onto the field, he could not make a difference and had to accept a 0-2 defeat.

Title Warehouse

This year's Europa League is also Mourinho's 25th title in his coaching career. In addition to four European Cups (2 Champions League, 2 UEFA Cup/Europa League), the "Special One" has won eight national championships in four different countries including Portugal, England, Italy and Spain.

In addition to his personal mark, Mourinho also helped Man Utd win 3 titles in the European arena. Before that, the "Red Devils" had won the C1 Cup/Champions League in 1968, 1999, 2008 and the C2 Cup in 1991. The Europa League championship is the 42nd biggest title in Man Utd's history, 1 more than Liverpool.

Specifically, Man Utd won 7 English National Championship Cups/13 Premier League Cups, 12 FA Cups, 5 League Cups, 3 C1/Champions League Cups and 2 other European Cup titles. Besides the major titles, Man Utd also won 21 English Community Shields, 1 Intercontinental Cup and 1 FIFA Club World Cup.

As for me, a Man Utd fan, I enjoyed the image of the MU players on crutches receiving the Europa League Cup after a convincing 2-0 victory over Ajax. That was the most eloquent image of a united and winning Man Utd!

AT