Leny Yoro: I came to Manchester United to achieve big things, to win trophies

French defender impressed again in Europa League as United overcome Athletic to set up final showdown against Tottenham

Manchester United defender Leny Yoro, left, fends off Athletic Club's Alvaro Djalo. AFP

Somehow, amid the worst domestic league season since relegation in 1973/74, Manchester United have managed to find enough form in European football to reach the Europa League final.

The same could be said about their opponents, Tottenham Hotspur, for what will be an all-English final in Bilbao on May 21 between the clubs currently 15th and 16th in the Premier League.

United’s run has been dramatic, stuffed with late goals, including in Thursday’s 4-1 win against an Athletic Club who had all the motivation of reaching a final in their home city. Their players sat utterly dejected on the team bus afterwards. Athletic had led 1-0 until the 72nd minute and ended up losing the match 4-1 and the tie 7-1 on aggregate.

United’s substitutes, especially Mason Mount and Amad Diallo, changed the dynamic of the tie into which Ruben Amorim’s side defended a 3-0 lead from Bilbao last week. United underwhelmed for the first 65 minutes of the return game, though Casemiro found some form and defender Leny Yoro excelled once again in the Europa League. The Frenchman provided a key assist for Mount’s nerve-calming equaliser.

“I’ve tried to bring the ball forward to help the team to score goals,” Yoro said. “I managed to pass to Mason and he did well. We’re happy with the win.”

Yoro is still in his first season at United following a transfer from Lille last summer but his start to life at Old Trafford was delayed by a pre-season injury.

“It was difficult for me in the beginning with the injury and even with my performances on the pitch when I first returned, but now I’m 100 per cent. I start to be good and I hope to be like that until the end of the season and into next season.”

Yoro, still only 19, looked unfazed by the pressure under which so many United players have wilted.

“I’m still a young player but on the pitch this [pressure] means nothing. When you join a big club like Man United you must settle quickly because the fans are waiting for you, even with a big transfer like I had. I feel confident. I’m 100 per cent focused on the game. If you put too pressure on yourself you cannot play your game so I just think about the game, that’s it.

“I come to Man United to achieve big things, to win trophies, so when you see players like Rio Ferdinand, Vidic, Varane you want to achieve the same things as them, stay in the memory of fans and be a big defender. When they compare me to them, it’s a real honour, I’m proud of this. I’m trying to be the best I can.”

Old Trafford was raucous in a season starved of such triumphs.

“It is the least we can do for these fans for the support they give us in this tough season, but I am stressed already because of the final,” said United head coach Ruben Amorim.

“If you don’t win it, it is nothing. We are happy to be there. I can see I should be a better manager in this moment, the team should be better in this moment but we are trying and I think we did quite well in Europe. We struggle a lot in the Premier league.”

Mason Mount pulled the first goal back for Manchester United. Reuters

Amorim was effusive about Mason Mount, who scored two excellent goals. Casemiro and Rasmus Hojlund got the others after Mikel Jauregizar’s 31st-minute goal gave Ernesto Valverde’s side hope. And Old Trafford a huge fright.

“I am so happy for him, he is such a player. He works really hard he has quality,” Amorim said of Mount. “It is important for every player but when you see that kind of guy working hard every day, eating well, resting ice bath – he does everything. When you have this kind of player you just want to help him and then the quality he has, he is perfect for that position because he can be a midfielder, he can run like a winger, he can play with this back to the goal.”

Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde praised his side, saying the tie was closer than the 7-1 aggregate score suggests, but lamented a lapse in concentration in which his side conceded three times in 12 minutes.

"We stood up for it but we have to stay on our feet until the end because these teams don't forgive you,” was Valverde’s verdict. "Everything can be seen in the result, which was overwhelming when we had them in the area and pushing to get into the tie after doing the most difficult thing, making it 0-1. But the last 10 minutes were very bad with a moment of weakness.

"The tie wasn't a walk in the park for United in either the first or second leg; it was much more even than the scoreline suggests, but we can’t allow those final 10 minutes to give the fans cause for celebration, much less the opposition.

"Playing in Europe requires a lot of focus. We’re not a team like the classic Champions League teams, who can win at 70%; we have to fight, run a lot, and play very close. You can already see the number of injuries we have.”

United have already suffered three defeat to final opponents Spurs this season: twice in the league as well as the League Cup.

“First of all you have to think, you have to think in the odds, it is hard for a club to lose four times in a row, so we have that,” said Amorim. “You can think that way. I think we must have a full squad, that is important and we need to study the game quite well and we need to have a bit of luck.”

“We’re Manchester United and need to win trophies,” said Yoro. United have given themselves a fair chance of that.