Rúben Amorim

Amorim Gets Better of Guardiola Before Joining Red Devils

Rúben Amorim will commence his role as the head coach of Manchester United on 11th November, 2024 after managing Portugal’s Sporting for four and a half years. But before he left his role at the Lisbon club, the footballing Gods determined that Amorim’s final home game for Sporting would be in the Champions League… against his soon-to-be local rivals, Manchester City.

Amorim led his side to an emphatic 4-1 victory against Pep Guardiola’s side who are – rather uncharacteristically – struggling at present. The Cityzens made a strong start and Phil Foden opened the scoring for the visitors after just four minutes. But Sporting’s Swedish striker Viktor Gyokeres was the hero of the night as he struck a brilliant hat-trick, with Maximiliano Araujo getting the other goal for the home side.

After the match, a clearly enraptured Amorim said, “It was written it had to be like this.” He’ll no doubt be hoping that his conquering of Pep will be a sign of things to come when he takes charge of the Red Devils and the Manchester sides face-off in the Premier League. But could this victory for Amorim over perhaps the greatest manager the game has ever seen prove significant, or did they just catch City at the right time?

How Significant Is Amorim’s Victory Over Guardiola?

Amorim and Guardiola
Amorim (Agencia LUSA, CC BY 3.0, Wikipedia) & Guardiola (Football.ua, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikipedia)

Despite the 4-1 scoreline suggesting Sporting hammered Man City in Lisbon, the stats tell a different story. As with most of their games, City enjoyed the lion’s share of possession (72.7%) and had far more shots (20 to Sporting’s 9). The difference was that six of Sporting’s shots were on target… the same number as City. That the usually ultra-reliable Erling Haaland hit a second-half City penalty over the bar didn’t help matters for the visitors. But overall there’s little doubt that the Portuguese side deserved the victory, even if the scoreline was perhaps a little flattering.

Sporting Defeat

We also need to consider the fact that the Cityzens are going through a mini-crisis (by their very high standards) and, including the Sporting defeat, have lost three games on the bounce. This hasn’t happened since April 2018. Although they have more cash and a deeper squad than most sides, there’s no question that recent injuries have also taken their toll on City’s ability to turn possession into victories. The biggest blow comes from the loss of Rodri, who was recently awarded the men’s Ballon d’Or. But he’s not the only player on the physio’s table. Jack Grealish, Ruben Dias and John Stones were also absent from the Sporting defeat, with Kevin De Bruyne only fit enough to make a late appearance from the bench.

With that in mind, there will be plenty of people (mainly City fans) who suggest Amorim’s victory over Pep means nothing. But we think the psychological advantage it gives the new Man United boss could prove significant. The fact that Amorim has already got the better of Pep, albeit against an understrength side and with a team who – frankly – are better than the current Red Devils, gives the Portuguese man the confidence that he can go toe-to-toe with the City boss, something that could prove useful when the sides meet in future.

Upcoming Clash

Indeed, Amorim doesn’t have to wait long for his new club to have a pop at Pep’s men: the Red Devils travel to the Etihad for their Premier League clash on 15th December. Whether Amorim can mastermind victory over City with his new side remains to be seen (and, if we’re being honest, we think it’s unlikely). But at least he’ll go into the game having seen first-hand how the current City team plays. And perhaps, if Guardiola’s squad are still depleted by injuries, there’s a chance the Red Devils might at least avoid defeat.

Who Is Rúben Amorim?


Rúben Amorim was a very decent player (though not really world class) who spent most of his playing days at Belenenses and then Benfica, with whom he won three Portuguese titles (2009/10, 2013/14 and 2014/15) and several cups. He played for the Portugal national side at U18, U19, U20 and U21 levels and made 14 appearances for the senior side between 2010 and 2014.

Managerial Education

During his managerial education, Amorim spent a week at Manchester United when fellow Portugal native, José Mourinho, was in charge. He then cut his teeth in the Portuguese third division when taking charge of Casa Pia in 2018/19. He resigned from the post after being suspended for not having the correct coaching accreditation and moved to take charge of the Braga reserve side. After just a few months in the role, the head coach of the senior side, Ricardo Sá Pinto, got the boot and Amorim was given the chance to manage the first team in the Primera Liga. He led the side to the league cup (beating Porto in the final just a mere three weeks after taking the job).

Head Coach of Sporting

The following season, on 4th March, 2020, Amorim was appointed as the head coach of Sporting. In 2020/21, his first full campaign in charge, Amorim led Sporting to their first Portuguese title for almost two decades, and landed the league cup too. He won the league cup again the following season but had to wait until 2023/24 to mastermind another league title with the Lisbon side. And Amorim leaves Sporting in very good shape: they are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Primera Liga with 10 wins from 10 games and are also second in the Champions League table (behind Liverpool) with three wins and a draw from their opening four games.

Could Amorim Bring the Title Back to Old Trafford?


With a reputation for excellent player management, tactical awareness and flexibility and a generally very positive outlook, Man United fans are hopeful the appointment of Amorim could finally bring glory back to the red half of Manchester. But is that likely?

Amorim will certainly have his work cut out to raise Man United to the levels of greatness they achieved under their last truly successful manager, Sir Alex Ferguson. Since he retired at the end of the 2012/13 season (after winning yet another Premier League title), many managers have tried and failed at Old Trafford. There has been some limited success, such as the FA Cup wins in 2015/16 and 2023/24, and the Europa League triumph of 2016/17 (with Jose Mourinho at the helm). But there have been no league titles… a fact made even tougher to bear given how many Man City have won in that time!

Ultimately, Amorim must do what most new managers have tried and failed to do in recent times: rebuild the squad, and bring stability and success. Whether he’s given the time (and money) to achieve that remains to be seen. But he might just have the winning formula if the players, fans and board get behind him.

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