Manchester United defender Diogo Dalot has highlighted the need to channel both the pressure to succeed and the fans’ hunger for silverware as key driving forces in the club’s push for the Europa League title this season.
United are set to go away to Lyon later this week for the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie, with the stakes at an all-time high.
Ruben Amorim’s men currently sit in 13th place in the Premier League and as it stands, a top-half finish appears to be a tall order. The Europa League remains the club’s only shot at winning a trophy and somewhat salvaging what has been a wretched campaign.
As an added bonus, winning the competition would secure United a place in the Champions League.
Dalot spoke to club media ahead of the meeting with Lyon and said, “You can feel when we are playing Europa League games that the club and the fans really want it.”
“So we just need to combine that energy and put it on the pitch to get towards the goal that we want.”
“The pressure is always there at United. You start the season and you can see that the expectation is always that Man United has to fight for every trophy. So, it’s something normal, but obviously, it will have a little bit extra because you know that if you win the Europa League you can play Champions League next year.”
“I think at the same time that that little extra pressure has to give you motivation to actually do it and actually want to do it, so I look at it like that.”
On the pressure of playing for United, Dalot explained, “You cannot teach a player, manager or member of staff how it is to be a Manchester United player or a person working at this club.”
“You only realise once you arrive here. You can have an idea but once you step in, then you realise how big this club is, how much the pressure is and you start knowing how to deal with this type of situation.”
“Obviously I’ve been here for quite a while now and have been through every scenario, I would say. I always try to keep really balanced, and I think that’s the best way of being consistent.”
The Portugal international continued, “It doesn’t matter if you’re unbeaten if you don’t win it. Hopefully we can be unbeaten until the end, and win it! But it’s a good sign that we’ve been doing really well this season in the Europa League and we want to keep going until we play in Bilbao.”
Lyon vs. United kicks off on Thursday at 20:00 BST.
Featured image Vasili Mihai-Antonio via Getty Images
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Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
