Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim has become only the third manager in the club’s history to win their two opening European matches.
The Portuguese manager has had a topsy-turvy spell as manager, winning three, drawing one and losing two of his first six games in charge in all competitions.
A combined effort with interim boss Ruud van Nistelrooy has seen United rocket up the Europa League standings as they have won their last three Europa League fixtures.
Amorim’s second game in charge was against FK Bodø/Glimt when a brace from Rasmus Hojlund and a goal from Alejandro Garnacho gave his side a 3-2 win.
It looked for a long time yesterday that the Red Devils would not be picking up the win in Czechia but a strike in the 88th minute gave them a much-needed victory over Viktoria Plzen.
Amorim will only be thinking about the three points and the chance of automatic qualification to the last 16 that a top eight finish would bring.
However, the victory last night meant that he joined legendary managers Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson as the only United coaches to win their opening two European ties.
Only three Man United managers in history have won their first two games in European competitions:
■ Sir Matt Busby
■ Sir Alex Ferguson
■ Ruben Amorim pic.twitter.com/UG6x1H0LVQ— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 12, 2024
United entered European competition with Sir Matt Busby in 1956 with the exciting team that would later become known as ‘The Busby Babes’.
Their first two wins came in a two-legged affair when they beat Anderlecht 2-0 away and then incredibly 10-0 at home in the European Cup.
This record still stands as the club’s largest ever margin of victory.
Sir Alex Ferguson had to wait four years before he got a taste of European action at United when his team beat Hungarian side Pecsi Munkas 2-0 at home and 0-1 on the road in the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Busby of course lifted the club’s first European cup in 1968 and Sir Alex would win the club’s other two in 1999 and 2008.
The only other manager in the club’s history to win a European trophy not called Busby or Ferguson was Jose Mourinho, who won the Europa League in 2017. Amorim will hope he can join his compatriot with this honour in 2025 in Bilbao.
Featured image Gabriel Kuchta via Getty Images
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Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
