Amad Diallo ‘praying’ for Europa League glory with Manchester United after double disappointment | OneFootball

It may have the makings of a quiz question. Which player was a runner-up in successive seasons of the Europa League with different clubs despite playing in neither final?

An answer of sorts will be apparent on Wednesday. Amad Diallo’s third Europa League final will also be his first: he hopes that, for the first time, the medal he collects will be gold. This time, he is not likely to languish among the unused substitutes the world of supersized benches has created.

“I already lost two. I hope to win this one. I keep praying for that one,” said the Manchester United winger. He has spent 240 minutes with a close-up view of such occasions, endured the disappointment of two penalty shootouts without being able to influence them.

The winger is among the relatively small band of survivors from United’s 2021 Europa League final loss to Villarreal, along with Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Luke Shaw. “I was on the bench,” he recalled. “I was young. I had no experience, but it was a good experience for me to be in my first Europa League final with the team. At the time, we had great players like [Paul] Pogba and [Edinson] Cavani.”

A year later, and still a teenager, he was on loan at Rangers, among those not called upon as they were beaten on spot kicks by Eintracht Frankfurt.

A hat-trick of sorts will come with a difference. Amad is unlikely to be a forgotten figure when United face Tottenham in Bilbao on Wednesday. “Now it's my moment,” he said.

That confidence looks justified. Amad has been one of the triumphs of United’s traumatic season. Even a cameo in the semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao was transformative: he and Mason Mount changed the game, entering at 1-0 down in what proved a 4-1 win, with Amad setting Rasmus Hojlund up for the simplest of finishes.

His 10 goals for the season include a match-winning brace in Europe, against PAOK Salonika. He has already scored against Spurs, in a Carabao Cup defeat. A 90th-minute Manchester derby winner and an 80th-minute equaliser at Anfield suggest he has an aptitude for the big occasion. But for an ankle injury that sidelined him for almost three months, there would surely have been more such moments.

“I think I was pressing [Andre] Onana, and then I think my left foot stayed on the grass and then turned,” Amad recalled. “In that moment I knew it wasn't really good because I know I will miss some games.” United missed him, too, a player whose pace and direct dribbling has given him an explosive impact, who has flourished in very different roles in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-3 system.

Regime change has benefited Amad. He suffered initially from former manager Erik ten Hag’s obstinate faith in Antony, his £85m signing and another left-footed right winger. Amad was visibly annoyed to only get a minute away in Fenerbahce; then assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy had to put an arm around him to console him.

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Diallo and Fernandes have been bright lights for United this season (Getty)

“In that moment, I was a little bit frustrated because you can understand sometimes maybe you deserve to play and you don't play,” he said. That double against PAOK came when Van Nistelrooy picked him during his time in caretaker charge.

But, Amad insisted, Ten Hag had made his mark. “Honestly, Erik helped me a lot,” he explained. “He was giving me a lot of advice, even when I wasn't playing. He was telling me to train very hard every time. That's the most important thing when a manager keeps telling you to train hard, even if you don't play. So I kept training very hard.”

His rewards came after Amorim’s appointment. He began the Portuguese’s first match and scored six goals in his first two months at the helm, despite swapping positions. “I'm a player who likes to play, and I'm available for every position. So if the manager prefers to put me as a right wing-back, I will be more happy to play there or No 10,” Amad said. “I have no preference. I just want to follow the manager and his system. The difference is right wing-back because you have to track back your defender. You’re more defender, and also you have to attack. No 10 is more as a forward player.”

Along with Fernandes, Amad has been United’s most incisive attacker under Amorim. Yet that ankle injury has meant he has been eased back into action, substitute appearances outnumbering starts in recent weeks. It remains to be seen if he will begin in Bilbao.

But if he is on the bench again, he will not be destined to remain there. Four-and-a-half years after his arrival from Atalanta, Amad has had his breakthrough season. His talents are not obscured any more. “I believe in my potential,” he said. “I believe I can be one of the best in the world.” But first to be the best in the Europa League final, rather than a man watching on powerlessly as his team lost on penalties.