Manchester United 19-year-old player shines in European match: assists Mount to score, ranks third in the team after the game

In the second leg of the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, Manchester United reversed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 at home, and advanced to the finals with a total score of 7-1 in two rounds. Manchester United's opponent in the UEFA Cup final is Tottenham Hotspur, which also comes from the Premier League. Judging from the score, Manchester United seems to have won the second leg easily, and it is easy. In fact, Manchester United spent a not-easy first 60 minutes in this game. But at the stalemate of the team, 19-year-old Yoro on the back line performed well. He also scored the third highest score in the team with 8.1 points after the game, second only to Mount and B Fee. In the first leg of the game, Manchester United defeated their opponent 3-0 away. Back at home, Manchester United entered the game with a three-goal lead. But in the 31st minute, Manchester United was scored by Mikel Jaregizal, which gave Athletic Bilbao enough motivation to speed up the pace and try to reverse the disadvantage. In terms of ball possession rate, Athletic Bilbao, who played away, once had an on-field advantage (52% against Manchester United 48%), and shot twice as many as Manchester United (8 times).

When the team was at a disadvantage, Yoro on the defense became one of the few highlights on the court. His mature performance on the backline makes it hard to believe that he is just a 19-year-old. In 45 minutes of the first half, the 19-year-old won all the tackles he tried and had an accuracy of 88%. He completed five ball retrievals, three clearances, three fouls, and two key passes sent into the opponent's offensive third zone. In the whole game, Yoro contributed 1 assist, and he assisted Mount in the second half to equalize the score. On the defensive end, Yoro successfully competed for 6 times in the top 4 times, 8 ground scrambles for babies 6 times, and 2 steals and 4 clearances and 1 interception, which performed very strongly. After the game, well-known football data blogger Statman Dave praised Yoro for "always looking calm."

At this stage, the 19-year-old Yoro has become a key puzzle in the hands of Ruben Amorin. Back in July 2024, Manchester United spent up to £52.1 million to sign Yoro from Lille, while promising an additional £6.7 million surcharge. At that time, Yoro attracted the interest of many top European teams, including Real Madrid, Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, but he eventually signed a five-year contract with Manchester United and had the option to extend the season.

Yoro was unable to play in the final months of Eric Tenhach coaching the team after missing the first quarter of the season due to a long-term injury. He played for Manchester United for the first time in December, when the team's coach had become Amorin. Under Amorin, Yoro has become an indispensable member of the team's core roster and will be like this in the next few years.