Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim showed a different side to him with his players in a training session ahead of their crucial Europa League clash with Lyon.
The Red Devils resume their Europa League campaign on Thursday evening, with Manchester United travelling to France for the first leg of their quarter-final clash.
Lyon will host United at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais for their last-eight Europa League tie before travelling to Old Trafford for the return leg on 17th April.
Ruben Amorim’s men were in action on Sunday ahead of their Europa League match and United and City played out a 0-0 Premier League draw at Old Trafford.
The remainder of United’s 2024-25 Europa League campaign plays a major role for Amorim, including on the silverware front and for European football for next season.
The Europa League is Amorim’s last real chance of lifting major silverware as United manager in the current campaign after his arrival from Sporting CP in 2024.
United lifting the Europa League trophy would also ensure the Red Devils’ return to the Champions League and European football for the 2025-26 season.
Ruben Amorim takes a different approach in a Man Utd training session ahead of the Europa League quarter-final tie with Lyon
Ruben Amorim and his Manchester United first-team players were spotted in a training session at the Carrington training complex ahead of their trip to France.
Sky Sports shared a clip of the training on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday and the reporter spotted something about Amorim.
The narrated voice highlighted that it has been seen “all season” how far Amorim positions himself from the United players during the open training sessions.
However, even the reporter suggested that the 40-year-old United manager was taking it to a “new level” after he stood “100, 150 meters away” from the training.
“You can actually see the Manchester United manager,” the reporter said.
“He likes to be away from the players during these open parts of the training session. We’ve seen this all season. But this is taking it to a new level.
“He’s stood… I mean, we must be 100, 150 meters away, behind a fence as well today as his players go through some of the rondos here just in front of us.”
Ruben Amorim sends a clear message about what Man Utd must do against Lyon in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-finals
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Amorim insisted that the Red Devils must approach Lyon differently to United’s victory over Real Sociedad in the last 16.
“If you look, it’s quite simple: the team of Lyon are stronger, faster than Real Sociedad,” he said, as per Manchester United’s official website.
“They play different football. Since this year, they are winning most of the games, they are scoring more goals, they are suffering less goals.
“It’s a strong team physically but they have a type of game that is really based on possession. So, it’s going to be a different game.
“You feel against Real Sociedad we made a lot of runs, with Rasmus [Hojlund] and Josh [Zirkzee].
“To do that with this team, it’s going to be harder to do it all [the] time. We have to arrange other ways to win the games.”
Either United or Lyon will face fellow quarter-finalists Rangers or Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the 2024-25 Europa League campaign.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
