The Manchester United captain expressed his delight after reaching the final following an 8-5 aggregate win over Roma.
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Manchester United captain Harry Maguire is “pleased” with the club overcoming the semifinal difficulties to reach the final of a competition. After losing four semifinals under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the club has reached the Europa League final on Thursday night. Man United lost the second leg 2-3 against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico, but a thumping 6-2 victory in the first leg helped them reach the final with an 8-5 aggregate win.
United will face Villarreal in the final on 26th May after the Spanish club prevailed over Arsenal in the semifinals. Speaking to BT Sport after the game, the skipper expressed his disappointment of losing the second leg but was happy to reach the final. “Obviously, we don’t want to lose any football match. We came in tonight wanting to win the game,” the defender said.
“But we knew we put ourselves in a great position in the first leg so credit to the boys. Obviously, [we’re not going to] celebrate tonight’s result, but we’re pleased that we’ve overcome the semi-final stage and reached the final of a competition. Now we’ve got to go there and win it.”
Edinson Cavani and David Degea were the heroes of the club in Rome. Cavani netted twice, while the Spanish goalkeeper came up with exceptional performance in the goal post to frustrate the Italian team. Thanks to the pair’s excellent outing, United got the job done at the Stadio Olimpico.
“Edinson scored two great goals and had a couple of chances as well. His movement and his work rate without the ball was excellent. He always offers us that and we always know that his movement when we have the ball is brilliant,” he added.
“He’s always going to get chances when we put crosses in the box. His second goal is typical of him and what he’s done throughout his career. He’s a top player for us.”
“Obviously, with David, as a central defender I’m not that pleased he’s had that much to do. I’d much prefer him not to make a save but when he was there tonight and we needed him, he pulled off big saves in big moments and that’s what he’s done throughout his career.”
United will now take on Villarreal in Gdansk later this month and Maguire feels that the “most important thing was to get through to the final.”
“For myself, the rest of the lads, everyone involved at the club, the fans, it’s something to look forward to and something that we need to make sure, at this club, we’re competing in on a regular basis,” he concluded.
