Davinson Sanchez clearly still carries the pain of losing the Europa League final with him.
Since the match against Manchester United he’s left Ajax and signed for Tottenham and started a whole new chapter of his life, but the loss, and the way it happened, still seems to pop into the defender’s head at the most random of times.
Tuesday’s edition of Marca carried an interview with the Colombian, and whilst most of the coverage has been about his telephone call from Mauricio Pochettino, his Manchester United comments also deserve a mention.
Marca asked Davinson Sanchez about turning down Barcelona B when the club came calling for him, and his answer was: “I came from winning the Libertadores and had to go to Barça’s B team, although I was also sure that I would finish in the first team. I played 48-50 games at Ajax, what I needed. We lost the Europa League final against United, which has a very strategic coach, who showed that to win a final it is not necessary to play nice.”
It’s not a straight dig at Manchester United or Jose Mourinho, but a sign Sanchez learned a valuable lesson that evening. Winning ugly is still winning, and losing whilst playing nice is still losing.
Sanchez is clearly still stinging, and that can only help Tottenham as they themselves seek to turn playing nice into a trophy win.
