RUBEN AMORIM would have preferred to leave Lisbon in a blaze of glory after winning a third Primeira Liga title.

However, football does not work like that. And in what was surely his last match before taking charge of Manchester United, Amorim prepared to bid farewell to a half-empty José Alvalade Stadium in a League Cup quarter-final against Nacional.

Sporting won 3-1 thanks to second-half goals from captain Morten Hjulmand and Viktor Gyokeres, who scored two.

Luis Esteves has retired for Madeira-based Nacional.

The stadium will be much busier on Tuesday when Manchester City are here for a Champions League match – although Amorim should then have his feet firmly under his desk at Old Trafford.

Both Liverpool and Aston Villa were interested in Europe’s most sought-after manager. Even City could have been a possible destination after Pep Guardiola.

Yet the United job is one that Amorim, 39, couldn’t turn down – even if not everyone saw it that way at Sporting last night.

There is clearly a huge divide among the Portuguese club’s fans over their manager’s departure at this stage of the season, with many believing he should have carried out his job.

However, Amorim, accompanied by the three coaches who should follow him, leaves a club in a much better state than when he arrived here in 2020.

Inside the stadium, there was applause – albeit muted – when his name was read out before the match along with the lineup.

And there didn’t seem to be any jeers as Amorim awkwardly left the tunnel towards the shelter.

So while his departure is difficult for some to accept, no fan will forget his legacy.

This is a club that is once again becoming the dominant force in Portugal. Even this season, Sporting won their first nine league matches, scoring 30 goals and conceding just two.

They are also eighth in the Champions League table, which is quite an effort.

On the other hand, Lisbon was not really affected by League Cup fever last night.

Amorim made numerous changes, which saw Sporting star man Gyokeres, the former Coventry striker, start on the bench.

There was, however, a first appearance in six weeks for former Tottenham winger Marcus Edwards.

He is certainly a player transformed by Amorim since arriving at the club from Vitoria in 2022 and he will regret seeing the coach leave.

While changing teams, Amorim stuck to his tried-and-true formation of three defenders.

This will definitely be something Manchester United fans will have to get used to over the coming months.

But looking at the Premier League table, none of them will complain about the change.