Ruben Amorim has explained why Alejandro Garnacho was substituted during Manchester United’s Europa League draw with Real Sociedad.
The winger started the game as United drew 1-1 with Sociedad in the first leg of their last-16 clash. Joshua Zirkzee had given the Red Devils the lead before Mikel Oyarzabal levelled with a penalty after Bruno Fernandes was adjudged to have handled in the box following a VAR call.
The winger has endured a frustrating season. Linked with a January move to Chelsea, Amorim recently revealed Garnacho would buy his teammates dinner after walking straight down the tunnel when he was substituted against Ipswich late last month.
United legend Paul Scholes said the Argentine international looked as if he was “sulking” after he was taken off for Christian Eriksen with just over ten minutes to go in San Sebastian.
Amorim, however, has revealed fatigue played a part in his decision-making.
“I felt he was tired,” he said.
“You see it because we did a lot of transitions in second half, he was late to defend. I felt he was tired to recover and do the same things.”
Of the more performance more generally, Amorim said: “I felt until the penalty, we had control of the game.
“I think the penalty changed a little bit the momentum. I felt our team in the last 30 minutes were really, really tired.
“You can feel it in the game. So we take this stage to Old Trafford. It’s going to be a different game, the pressure is going to be on us.”
