Dalot on Utd disappointing league campaign and importance of Europa League success
14/05/2025
Old trafford, manchester, UK
14/05/2025
Old trafford, manchester, UK
Category
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SportsTranscript
00:00How are you feeling and how's your injury?
00:01Feeling good, feeling better every day.
00:04At this stage we go day by day to see how it goes, but so far so good.
00:09How hopeful are you that you can make that final?
00:11How hard are you working every day to make sure you can be fit for it?
00:14Really hard.
00:15I can imagine how much I want to be back as soon as possible,
00:18so I'm really pushing myself to be available as soon as possible, but we will see.
00:24Just looking ahead to the final, of course you have Chelsea first,
00:27but how are you guys feeling ahead of Tottenham, a team you faced three times?
00:31Will those meetings have any kind of premise in that game, do you think?
00:35I think when you go to a stage like that, in a competition like that,
00:40what you have done previously will not have a big matter on the result in my opinion.
00:47Obviously we're playing two English teams, very good game to watch I think,
00:52two big clubs, so I think that's the aim for that game,
00:57to be in the best shape we can mentally and physically to win it.
01:01I think that's the goal that we have to have.
01:04And just last one from me, Ruben Amrum said after the last game
01:07that he feels the club are losing that identity of losing big games at home consecutively
01:12and losing that feeling of being a big club.
01:14Is that something you relate to or is that something hurts you when you hear your boss talk like that?
01:19Obviously it hurts. It's something that we definitely need to change.
01:23It's something that it's been quite clear in terms of results.
01:27We are not being consistent enough.
01:28We're not showing the type of performances that the club should present,
01:33especially here at Old Trafford.
01:35So it's something that we definitely need to change.
01:38We have a lot of work to do.
01:39I'm sure that he believes in us as much as we believe in him.
01:42So all together I think we can turn things around and we can start that as soon as possible.
01:49In the context of the season you've had, what would winning this mean?
01:54It would mean less bad than what it actually is.
01:58I think everybody sees and everybody knows that this is not the standard for the club.
02:03No one near it.
02:05What we've been doing this season is not enough to what this club deserves.
02:12So I think it's the least we could do, especially for the fans,
02:16because they suffer as much as us, to win a trophy, to win a European competition.
02:22I know how much it means European nights and European competitions for this club.
02:28And it's an opportunity for us to put us in the Champions League,
02:32which is also where this club should be.
02:34What would that mean if you could actually clinch a Champions League place,
02:37finishing so low in the league?
02:39It's exactly what I've said.
02:40It means the least that we could do for the club, for the fans.
02:44We have one more opportunity to be there and to win a major competition.
02:51I think that's where we want to be, where we want to go.
02:54And if we have that opportunity, we need to grab it in both hands.
02:57And having played out in Bilbao, does that give you an advantage?
03:00You kind of already know of the layout, Ben?
03:02I mean, it can just because you know the inches of the pitch,
03:05but I don't think it will matter if we play there or not.
03:10In the end, it will be obviously what we bring inside the pitch,
03:14the energy the fans will bring us.
03:16I'm sure it will be unbelievable, like they always do.
03:20And all together, we can hopefully make a special night again for this club.
03:25Diogo, can you put an explanation to why the performance has been so different
03:31between the league and Europe?
03:32We've been unbeaten in Europe throughout the season.
03:35In the league, we can't quite go in.
03:37Is that because everyone's got an eye on Bilbao in the Europa League?
03:39Or is it mentally, tactical? Can you explain the difference?
03:43I think it's something that we definitely have to work on.
03:47If you want to be a top team in the future, like this club is,
03:53you cannot switch on and off through competitions.
03:56You have to be the same type of mentality.
03:59Even if you switch 11 players on the pitch, the feeling has to be exactly the same.
04:05We're facing competitions after competitions and games after games
04:10where the demands are always high.
04:12And especially when you play for this club, you have to win it all the time.
04:16So this season it's been a rollercoaster of emotions, a rollercoaster of results.
04:22But we found maybe in Europa League some more consistency
04:27that we didn't have during the domestic competitions.
04:32Do you think the tactics just work better in Europe?
04:35I don't think so.
04:36I think the way that we want to play will be the same, no matter the competition.
04:42In the end it's just for you to find results.
04:46And in the Europa League there might be also games that we didn't play that well
04:49but we find a way to win.
04:51And I think that's been the difference.
04:53Sometimes we get a result and in the domestic competition we cannot do that so far.
04:59Diogo, the line that's often been used is that Spurs have beat you guys three times a season.
05:04Last season you saw City beat us twice as well
05:07but then you went into the Open Cup final and everything changed, you went and won that.
05:11Do you think your experience of winning that trophy as a team gives you that advantage over Spurs
05:16who have yet to win a trophy in a long time?
05:18It won't give you an advantage.
05:20It will give you a perception that what you have done before
05:24it doesn't necessarily mean that you were going to win or lose the game.
05:28We're talking about one game of football, one bad day for one team, one good day for the other team.
05:36So we just have to work as much as we can, be 100% focused so we can end of the day in the happy end.
05:44And I think that's where we should focus on.
05:48Obviously we're going to have time to analyse the team, to analyse the type of game that we want to play as well.
05:53But in the end it's a final. We just have to find a way to win.
05:56Does it affect you mentally knowing that they have beat you three times so far this season going into that final?
06:01No, not at all. I just think that we go to a final. To be completely honest, it doesn't matter if they beat us during this season.
06:10I just know that once the time comes, that team has to be really focused. I think everybody will be focused.
06:17And then it's Man United against Spurs. We just have to be Man United for one more special night, win that game and bring the trophy to Manchester.
06:26Do you have a message for the fans that are travelling all the way? Car, plane, ball, everything, every way you can get to build that. Do you have a message for them travelling all the way?
06:33I have. We will do whatever we can to find that win, to bring you that trophy because you deserve it.
06:40More than anything, I think these fans deserve the best because they've been suffering a lot throughout these years with us.
06:48So I know that winning this competition is important. So I'm sure that everybody in the dressing room and all the staff know that we carry that weight with us.
06:58Because I think together we are much stronger than people think.
07:03Thank you, Gabriel.