Alejandro Garnacho was reportedly furious after being named on the bench for Manchester United’s Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur.
On Wednesday night, United lineup for their biggest game of the season as they faced Premier League rivals Spurs in the Europa League final at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao.
Going into the final, much of the speculation centred on who would be included in United manager Ruben Amorim’s lineup, with several different tactical options available.
Surprisingly, the Portuguese manager decided to bench United star Garnacho, opting instead to play Mason Mount on the left side of United’s attack.
And it has been reported that the Argentine international was not at all happy with the decision, as he was spotted sending a message to his manager ahead of kickoff.
Image: Getty
According to The Mirror, the 20-year-old was clearly ‘seething’ about the decision, and made sure that Amorim knew by deciding to take his time when arriving late to wam up on the pitch with his fellow substitutes.
Instead of getting ready to warm up, the winger was seen chatting at the side of the pitch with Tottenham defender Sergio Reguilon, who spent last season on loan at Old Trafford, still wearing the suit that he arrived to the stadium in.
Eventually, the forward emerged from the changing room 10 minutes later than his teammates and joined in for the warm up.
Hours before kick off, Garnacho strangely decided to share pictrues of him scoring against local rivals Manchester City during their victory in the FA Cup last season, suggesting he may have already known that he would not be starting on Wednesday.
But it’s clear that Amorim knew exactly what he wanted from the come, as he spoke to TNT Sports ahead of kick-off to explain his decision to start Mount.
He said: “I felt Mason in this moment gives us a different balance. He’s really good attacking, he’s one extra in midfield.
“You know, Tottenham put their full-backs and midfielders inside, overloading that space. To have speed on the bench. We have Amad on the other side, and we need to have legs to change the game.”
