Europa League: Bruno hat-trick helps United progress, Mourinho frustrated by VAR as Fener out on pens; Fonseca’s Lyon cruise into last eight

Bruno Fernandes was the star of the show as Rúben Amorim’s Manchester United set up a meeting with Paulo Fonseca’s Lyon in the quarter final of the Europa League. Fernandes scored a hat-trick and Diogo Dalot rounded off the scoring to help United beat Real Sociedad at Old Trafford, while Fonseca’s men breezed past Steaua Bucharest in France.

Elsewhere, José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe are out after a penalty shootout loss to Rangers in Glasgow, with the legendary Portuguese boss expressing frustration at what he perceived was further bad luck with officiating after a valiant effort by his side at Ibrox.

It was Bruno Fernandes’ night at Old Trafford. The United skipper scored two penalties before capping his hat-trick with a lung-busting run to be played in for a third as the Red Devils hammered Real Sociedad 4-1 to advance 5-2 on aggregate. It was the Portuguese midfielder’s second hat-trick for the club and his 6th goal in his last 6 appearances.

United got off to a bad start on the night by conceding an early penalty, dispatched by Spain’s Euro 2024 final hero Mikel Oyarzabal. However, the hosts were awarded a penalty of their own five minutes later, which Fernandes duly scored, leading to a relatively dominant performance by United. Diogo Dalot capped the scoring with a fine finish during injury time from Rasmus Hojlund’s pull-back.

“We need to help Bruno win titles”

Several journalists opined that the showing was one of the best performances Rúben Amorim has overseen since taking charge of United last November, while inevitably the former Sporting boss was asked to comment on the form of his captain, who was named Man of the Match.

“It’s hard for a player like Bruno. Sometimes he wants to win really bad, sometimes he wants to win too much,” Amorim told TNT Sports. “That’s not a bad thing but sometimes he’s going around in different positions, he doesn’t trust in his teammates and he can show that frustration. But he’s always there. He can play different positions, set-pieces, score penalties with high pressure, he can make transitions in the last 15 minutes. We need to help him to win titles because he deserves it.

“We have a lot of games in the Premier League. In my head we are going to use every minute to improve the team, because it does not end with this season, we also have to prepare [for] the future. Against Lyon is going to be a different game because the physicality is there. They play in a league that is so physical like ours. So it will be a different game and we will have to find different ways to win. We will be ready for that.”

Fonseca vs Amorim in quarter-finals

United will meet French side Lyon in the quarter-finals, which will pit Amorim against countryman Paulo Fonseca in the opposing dugout. Fonseca has begun a 9-month domestic ban for his behaviour towards an official in Ligue 1, but the suspension does not apply to continental competitions.

Therefore, the former Porto boss was on the touchline to see his Lyon side breeze past Steaua Bucharest at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais. A brace each from Georges Mikautadze and Ernest Nuamah gave Fonseca’s men a 4-0 win on the night to seal an impressive 7-1 aggregate scoreline against the Romanians.

“I’m very happy with the players’ performance,” said Fonseca. “We were very serious and ambitious at every moment. We can play like that. Our game is one of attraction. It’s important to attract the opponent to create space, to create those connections between players. We worked a lot on these phases. I think the players applied it very well.

“I liked everything, but what I especially remember is the control of the match with the ball. In the first half, with Veretout, Cherki and Tolisso, then with Matic and Almada. This control is important. We also defended very well, with another clean sheet. We have players who have a lot of quality in their final touches.

“I can’t say much about Manchester United. We have time to study this opponent. I’ll start preparing for Le Havre when I get home, but we have time to study Manchester United, whose players and Portuguese coach I know. But the most important thing is Le Havre.”

Mourinho frutrated by VAR as Fenerbahce eliminated 

There was less happy news for the most illustrious manager left in the competition, as José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe suffered the heartbreak of a penalty shootout defeat to Rangers in Scotland. Having lost the first leg 3-1 in Istanbul, Mourinho’s side staged an impressive comeback to record a 2-0 scoreline at Ibrox, but after extra time yielded no further goals, Fener fell to a 3-2 defeat on penalties.

“Best team on the pitch, by far, not by close – by far,” Mourinho said after the loss. “We deserved to win over 90 minutes, we deserved to win over 120 minutes. We were the best team by far. In the first match I was honest and I had enough fair play to say we made mistakes, we deserved to lose and lost. In this match I have to be honest and say we did everything to win and we deserved to win.”

Mourinho then stated that “the referee and Var decided we should go to penalties, because three penalties [for us] during the 120 minutes” before going on to suggest his team are being punished for his own history. Mourinho was famously suspended by UEFA for his words towards referee Anthony Taylor following his first-ever defeat in a European final when Roma lost to Sevilla on penalties in the Europa League in 2023.

“The only thing that I hope is that everything that happened to my team in European competitions since Day 1 this season is not a consequence of the Budapest final. I hope that it’s just random.

“Yes [that goes through my mind] because since that final, since my suspension after the Budapest final, the things that happened to us…..We didn’t play Champions League because of a penalty on 120 minutes that only the VAR saw against Lille. We didn’t win against Manchester United with a penalty that everybody saw. Today we come here and the VAR – considered one the best – didn’t see one of three penalties. I just hope that it’s random. I got the suspension and I hope that it’s over and this is just bad luck.”

In typically charismatic fashion, Mourinho did end his interview on a classy note.

“I told my players there’s no better place to play football than the UK, even as the opposition. Because the stadiums are fantastic in their support but with a lot of fair play. Rangers didn’t deserve to go through, but they did so they deserve to celebrate….and give some money to the pubs.”

By @SeanGillen9