Manchester United lost in injury No. 7, looking forward to greatness again in the Europa League final

Mason Mount never gave up his beliefs, and he believed that one day, some magical moment would change his time at Manchester United.

He has been suffering from injuries since joining Manchester United in June 2023. On May 8, he scored two goals for Manchester United at Old Trafford Stadium, and the magical moment has come.

This is a second leg of the UEFA Cup semi-finals, with Manchester United defeating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 away in the first leg. But after returning to home, they were struggling and failed to show their momentum to reach the UEFA Cup final.

They were scored 1 goal by their opponent in the 31st minute of the first half, and the score lasted until the 62nd minute. There are 28 minutes left in the game, and the total score is two goals ahead. Amorin knows that this score is not safe.

Mount came on as a substitute. Ten minutes later, he quickly turned around after receiving a short pass from Yoro, and shot a curved ball through the opponent's goal in the penalty area.

This goal relieved the gradual warming tension in the court. 18 minutes later, Mount scored again, and it was not until this time that Ruben Amorin's team had an absolute advantage. The result of their meeting with Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final has been unchanged.

"It's not easy," the 26-year-old recalled, "but I've always been very focused, always remembering the ultimate goal, always feeling that everything will be fine, always feeling that something will happen, I'll wait until that magical moment comes."

"Obviously, I've had some time to digest it. I watched the goal and the whole game several times."

"It was a wonderful night for me, everything happened so quickly, and I felt like I was being pushed forward by a torrent. I didn't think too much, and then I scored two goals and we won the game."

"It" is the word Mount uses most often to refer to himself as an injury.

In 2023, Mount transferred from Chelsea to Manchester United for £55 million. He suffered his first injury after only two games. In the next 18 months, he missed the game with injuries in total six times.

He missed for more than three months due to calf injury last season, and for almost three months this season due to hamstring problems, and did not return until April this year. This can be said to be the worst period of Mount's career. After defeating Athletic Bilbao 4-1, Mount started in the Premier League twice in a row, which is the first time in Amorin's tenure. Amorin highly praised Mount's work ethics and dedication to keep a healthy life.

"It's not always easy," Mount said. "In Carrington, when I wanted to train, I could only sit in the treatment bed for several days. When I wanted to play, I could only sit in the stands as an audience member."

"That's the case. I tried my best to continue to recover and try to return to the field. These moments have learned a lot. After these, people will really cherish their careers even more."

Wearing the Red Devils No. 7 jersey is a "great honor"

We can't accuse Mount of choosing to join Manchester United for the purpose of shelter and seeking ease.

Mount not only left Chelsea, where he has lived since he was six, but also wore Manchester United No. 7 jersey. A series of world superstars, including George Best, Brian Robson, Eric Cantoner, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, have worn this jersey.

"It's a great honor for me," he said. "Before joining Manchester United, I knew the legendary stars who wore this jersey and knew what No. 7 meant for Manchester United clubs."

"I always wanted to wear this jersey, and I would never refuse once I had a chance."

"Positive ending of a difficult season"

Mount's injury made people forget how good he was. At the age of 20, Mount was on loan to Derby County, the team's core player to enter the 2019 Championship promotion play-off final, but they were eventually defeated by Aston Villa.

A year later, he became a regular visitor to England and a standing team for Chelsea, and entered the FA Cup final at Wembley with Chelsea, but unfortunately he was defeated by Arsenal led by Arteta.

In 2021, he lost the FA Cup final and the European Cup final in three months. It is gratifying that he helped Chelsea defeat Manchester City in the Champions League final and won the cup twice.

There is no doubt that he started all three finals.

In 2022, he helped Chelsea defeat Palmeiras and won the Club World Cup championship, but then lost to Liverpool in the FA Cup final. At that time, Mount was only 23 years old, far from reaching his peak.

Before the start of the game against Manchester United, Athletic Bilbao may have felt that he was the Europa League champion this season. After all, they are facing the competition between 16th and 17th in the Premier League. If Manchester United and Tottenham are placed in La Liga this season, they may not be able to successfully relegate. Unfortunately, they met Mount, a man wearing a No. 7 jersey with Manchester United's great tradition.

The Europa League final will be held at Wembley Stadium in the early morning. Manchester United and Tottenham have the last chance to end a season of failure and ridicule. Whoever wins will get a Champions League place next season.

"Losing is really hard," Mount said. "I have lost a lot of goals at Wembley Stadium, and these losses will make me feel bad."

"But when you really win, you understand that feeling and always want to win."

"I don't know how many guys have experienced this, but I can tell you that I've experienced a lot of failures and I don't want to taste that."

It's a bad season for Manchester United by any standard..

's loss at Stamford Bridge last Friday was their 18th Premier League defeat this season. This is their worst record since losing 20 league games in the 1973-74 season.

The competition process may not be as bad as the result. Maguire had the chance to score first, but VAR's intervention made his goal invalid.

In the previous game against West Ham United, Amorin's team had the advantage, but did not seize the opportunity and was eventually beaten to a counterattack by the opponent.

This is the story of this season from Manchester United's perspective, which also explains why Mount is optimistic about the future, while others don't.

"I think we're close to winning," he said, "there are small details everywhere in the game, especially in the Premier League."

"If the small details are not correct, you can be punished and sometimes it can have devastating consequences."

"I think we're correcting these mistakes, and when you win the trophy, you get extra confidence and you build a solidarity as a team."

"But we know where we are. As a team, we try to block the noise, we know we're not doing well enough in the league."

"We won't forget how we're doing in the league, but if we can win in the UEFA Cup final, it's a positive ending for a tough season."