Victor Lindelof had to depart Old Trafford during the intense quarter-final clash against Lyon due to a personal issue.
Initially, it seemed like United’s journey in the tournament was coming to an end as ten-man Lyon clawed their way back from two goals down to lead 4-2 in extra time, following a 2-2 stalemate in the first leg.
Goals from Corentin Tolisso—who was later sent off—and Nicolas Tagliafico wiped out early strikes by Manuel Ugarte and Diogo Dalot.
Rayan Cherki and Alexandre Lacazette then gave the French side a commanding two-goal cushion late in the game.
However, United launched a breathtaking comeback. Bruno Fernandes calmly converted a penalty, and substitute Kobbie Mainoo followed with a brilliant goal past goalkeeper Lucas Perri.
With time running out and a penalty shootout looming, United threw caution to the wind, and their persistence paid off when Harry Maguire rose to head in a dramatic 121st-minute winner, sending Old Trafford into wild celebration.
The thrilling 7-6 aggregate victory not only sealed their place in the semi-finals but also kept their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League very much alive. Amorim’s side will now face Athletic Bilbao in the next round of Europe’s secondary competition.
‘It was hard. I was watching again the ’99 documentary to have some inspiration for these moments,’ a visibly drained Amorim told TNT Sports just moments after the drama had concluded.
‘But it was a great night. I think the team were tired and you feel it during the game.
‘Then it was 4-2 with one more player and, in the end, you think it’s over. But here, it’s never over.’
Asked whether he always believed his team could turn it around, Amorim replied: ‘Here, everything is possible.
‘You feel the environment and then after the 4-3, the penalty from Bruno, you feel that you can change the game.’
After being named among the substitutes, Lindelof was seen getting himself ready at the halfway stage and was set to replace Noussair Mazraoui for the second period.
But the Sweden defender received some personal news just before the restart and Amorim was forced to send on Luke Shaw instead.
‘When you are here, you can feel that playing in the Premier League and European games is really hard if you don’t have the full squad. It’s almost impossible,’ the United head coach added.
‘Mason Mount brought us experience. You can see Luke Shaw, he was supposed to play 30 minutes tops but then we had a problem with news at half-time. Vic [Lindelof] has a personal problem, he had to leave, so all this stuff happened during the game. But in the end it was a good result.’
Though understandably delighted to advance through, Amorim admitted that there was ‘a lot to improve’ going forward.
‘I think we started well but we are not really consistent to maintain the game in the same way for a long time. And then when I feel the team is a little bit tired we drop a lot,’ the Portuguese continued.
‘We have experienced games against Arsenal and City, we can defend quite well in these moments.
‘I think we should do better with the two goals of Lyon, but that’s it. We have a lot to improve but the character was there.’
Amorim added: ‘Of course [it’s frustrating] because it’s a reflection of the coach is the league.
‘You can be good in European games but your reflection as a team is the league and we are underperforming.
‘But then we have to see the context. You can see that we lack of lot of the characteristics in our team.
‘You want to push forward. You see Garna [Garnacho] really tired but you feel during the game that he’s the only one that can make transitions.’
