Harry Maguire exclusive: Manchester United fans 'deserve' Europa League glory for sticking with players despite Premier League disappointment
Updated 20/05/2025 at 15:33 GMT+1
Manchester United's season-defining UEFA Europa League final against Premier League rivals Tottenham is looming on the horizon, and centre-back Harry Maguire spoke exclusively to TNT Sports ahead of the seismic clash in Bilbao. The England international turned the attention to United's fans, claiming their support in such a difficult season is deserving of a trophy.
'Incredible Man Utd fans deserve something to celebrate' - Maguire
Video credit: TNT Sports
Harry Maguire has praised the atmosphere created by Manchester United's fans in this season's UEFA Europa League, insisting they "deserve" to celebrate a trophy.
United face Tottenham in the Europa League final on Wednesday night - live on TNT Sports and discovery+ - in a clash between the Premier League's 16th and 17th-placed teams.
And Maguire highlighted the impact of United's supporters on the way to the final in Bilbao.
"To be in the Europa League and to give our fans something to bring that energy and atmosphere... the atmosphere in the Europa League has been something else - it's been incredible," he said in an exclusive interview with TNT Sports' Owen Hargreaves.
"We know it's not been good enough this season, we take responsibility for that as players. We've had two managers and results haven't been good enough, and that's got to be down to us.
"To play in a European final for Manchester United is a huge occasion. Our fans deserve it - they've been absolutely incredible this season. I don't know how and why they're sticking with us as much as they are, because we've disappointed them so many times. But they've stuck with us and they deserve something to celebrate.
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"It's going to be a great day for them, but it'll only be a great day if we go and lift that trophy.
"It's going to be a good game, a tough game, we know that Spurs will be right up for it as well, but it's one I'm looking forward to."
Maguire, who has enjoyed something of a revival in his United career and scored the dramatic winner in the Europa League quarter-final against Lyon, said the mentality of the team will be crucial against Spurs.
"People can worry about finals," he added. "When I was a young boy, you're probably going into finals and your mentality is a bit different. You're probably thinking, 'I don't want to be the one to make that mistake', whereas now my mentality is that I want to go and perform, I want to go and play.
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"If every one of your players goes onto the pitch in a final and has that mentality that they're going to be the best player, they're not going to be a 6 out of 10 and just get through the game and nothing gets said about them after - they're going to go and express themselves... that's a big mentality we need to have going into this final.
"That's why we play for this club, this is Manchester United. When you join this club, you want to be in big finals and have the privilege to play in finals.
"We know there's so much pressure and there's going to be so much spoken about the game, but you've got to go and enjoy it."
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