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• Erik ten Hag wants Manchester United to use FA Cup final defeat as motivation

  Erik ten Hag says Manchester United must use the pain of their narrow FA Cup final defeat to Manchester City to improve and eventually catch their dominant neighbours.

  The eyes of the footballing world were on Wembley as these rivals went toe-to-toe in a major cup final for the first time on Saturday afternoon.

  Ilkay Gundogan opened the scoring with a stunning volley after 12 seconds, with Bruno Fernandes’ penalty cancelling out the quickest goal in FA Cup final history.

  But City regained the lead through another Gundogan volley to seal a 2-1 win, giving them a chance to emulate United’s 1999 treble heroes in next weekend’s Champions League final.

  Many United fans had started the long, train strike-impacted journey home when their rivals lifted the trophy, but Ten Hag and his team watched those celebrations.

  “First of all, show respect always,” the Dutchman said. “But, yeah, of course, it’s a motivation.

  “You have to feel it in your stomach. This hurts and it has to be fuel.

  “We want to be there and our team, my players, deserved it, but you have to grab it and that is the next step we have to make.”

  It was a galling end to a promising first season under Ten Hag, who is proud to have overseen a third-placed finish, Carabao Cup win and narrow FA Cup final loss.

  “I want to congratulate City for winning the FA Cup, but I think it was very narrow, it was head to head,” he said. “We played very competitive out of a very good organisation.

  “We didn’t allow them out from open play against probably the best team in the world in this moment.

  “We fought back after going a quick goal down and I think we are the only team in the world who is capable of fighting back against this team from City.

  “So, yeah, I was happy with the performance of my team.”

  David De Gea’s role has been debated all season and his part in City’s second goal has been called into question, leading Ten Hag to be asked whether he was comfortable having him going into next season.

  “In this moment, I don’t want to talk about such issues, about criticism because we played all a great season, including David De Gea,” he said of the goalkeeper, who has yet to extend his contract beyond the summer.

  “He played a fantastic season. If you consider that City and us before today both had 42 wins.

  “Now they have one win more, so the difference was made today. Then you can tell we played a fantastic season and it’s more than we could have expected before.

  “We were third in the league, we are qualified for the Champions League, and we won a trophy and we were in another final.

  “So, yeah, I’m really happy with the performance from my team all over.”

  Ten Hag bemoaned “soft goals” after a loss and season where the lack of quality and depth compared to treble-chasing City has been clear.

  United have work to do in the summer but the interminable takeover process continues to hang over the club as the Glazer family drag the process out.

  Co-owner Avram Glazer was at Wembley for the final and ignored questions about the takeover as he left through the interview area.

  “I think in this moment I don’t want to discuss that,” Ten Hag said when asked about the takeover and summer improvements.

  “It’s about finalising the season. We have to be quiet, analyse the season, go into the depth, then set the right conclusions and then take action. It’s about that.

  “Of course, during the season you continually make your considerations and already some actions are into process.

  “But, yeah, now the season is finished and the conclusion all over is we played a brilliant season.”

  Asked if he has different plans for whether there is a takeover or not, Ten Hag said: “I have only one plan and that is to improve this club and to improve this team.

  “I will fight for (that). I have my ideas and I already talked with the club about what we have to do for that.

  “But also what I said, yeah, I have to work with my staff, with my players to be better in next season.”

• Mourinho and Roma deserve bans for Taylor treatment, says Ref Support chief

  Jose Mourinho should be suspended from coaching and Roma barred from European competitions following the "disgraceful" harassment of Anthony Taylor after Wednesday's Europa League final.

  That is the view of Martin Cassidy, chief executive of Ref Support UK – a charity committed to supporting officials – after Taylor was abused following Roma's penalty shoot-out defeat to Sevilla.

  Roma boss Mourinho was fiercely critical of Taylor's performance as Sevilla won a record-extending seventh Europa League title via spot-kicks following an ill-tempered 1-1 draw in Budapest.

  Thirteen players were booked during the match, while Gonzalo Montiel scored his winning penalty at the second attempt after Rui Patricio was punished for encroachment after initially saving his kick.  

  Mourinho was seen shouting expletives at Taylor after the game, and the English official was harassed by Giallorossi supporters when at Budapest Airport with his family.

  Speaking to Stats Perform, Cassidy outlined the strong punishments he would like to see issued to coaches who abuse officials. 

  "I'd be interested to speak to the legal people in UEFA and FIFA, to see if they could take their coaching badges away from them," Cassidy said.

  "Take it away from them. Say, 'I'm sorry, we are going to suspend your badge, you can't coach at that level'. Let's see what that does.

  "Obviously, big legal challenges will come that way. But let's have things in place to say, 'Look, a stadium ban is not working on you and one or two fines when you are a multimillionaire are not going to bother you'. 

  "Let's really hurt you, let's take you away from being able to coach, let's suspend your coaching badge. Job done."

  Cassidy believes Mourinho's behaviour is being replicated by grassroots coaches, and says his club should be barred from Europe or handed a points deduction for next season. 

  "It's just disgraceful," he added. "How many chances does this man [Mourinho] want before some national governing body or UEFA or FIFA take appropriate action against him? 

  "This behaviour he shows manifests itself at grassroots level when there's a youth referee in the middle, and little mini-Mourinhos are on the sidelines repeating and replicating those antics. 

  "It's not good at all. And I just think, the managers – it's not just Jose Mourinho – other people do it and have been doing for a long time… they throw in a small fine, it might be £100 or £1,000. 

  "That's a small fine for some of these people, for some of them it is not even a week's wages. They throw in a ban, well, Jose Mourinho has been banned before from stadiums and still found a way of doing his coaching.

  "What are UEFA going to do? I think don't allow them to play in Europe next year. 

  "If they do allow them to play in Europe, let's have them on a minus points deficit of say three or four points, let's just have a message that is different to what we've been doing previously."

• Barcelona come from two goals down to beat Wolfsburg and win Champions League

  Fridolina Rolfo’s strike completed a stunning second-half comeback to secure Barcelona the Champions League trophy with a 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg at Eindhoven’s sold-out Philips Stadion.

  The Spanish side were favourites to win a second title in three years but were stunned by Ewa Pajor’s opener after just three minutes, while skipper Alexandra Popp extended Wolfsburg’s advantage to two before the break.

  Two goals inside two second-half minutes for Patricia Guijarro brought Barcelona back into the contest immediately following the restart before they  benefited from a Wolfsburg error to seal the win.

  Barca’s victory also made English history, with Lioness Lucy Bronze becoming the first from her country to win the Champions League title with two clubs having previously done so three times with Lyon.

  Both sides had eliminated English opponents to get here, with Wolfsburg seeing off Arsenal and Barcelona reaching their fourth showpiece in five seasons after drawing 1-1 with Chelsea in their second leg to advance 2-1 on aggregate.

  Current England and former Netherlands boss Sarina Wiegman brought out the trophy on a sunny afternoon in her native country, and was no doubt  delighted to see Bronze, recovered from knee surgery, back in the Barcelona starting line-up exactly seven weeks before the Lionesses open their World Cup campaign.

  It was the England defender’s mistake, however, that led to her side conceding after just two minutes and 57 seconds – the fastest Barcelona had ever fallen behind in the competition.

  Barca had a shot stopped by Merle Frohms before Pajor won the ball off Bronze and made her way into the centre before drilling past Sandra Panos into the top right corner.

  That  likely conjured up painful memories for Barcelona, who conceded to eventual 3-1 winners Lyon after six minutes last year in Turin.

  Irene Paredes cringed after wasting a free header, while at the other end Sveindis Jonsdottir had a half-volley saved for the Frauen-Bundesliga runners-up.

  Caroline Graham Hansen found herself in a perfect position to level from Mapi Leon’s excellent delivery but the Norwegian could not connect and seemed thrown off by the bounce the ball took en route to the six-yard box.

  As the Liga F champions struggled to settle into a dominant rhythm, Pajor turned provider and sent a fine delivery in the direction of her skipper to dutifully head home – Popp in the process equalling Ada Hegerberg’s UWCL record as she got herself on the finals scoresheet in a fourth separate season.

  It took an alert Frohms to deny Salma Paralluelo late in the period and send her side into the second half with a two-goal advantage.

  That was erased within five minutes after the restart when Guijarro collected Graham Hansen’s cut-back, then nodded her second past a leaping Frohms two minutes later from Aitana Bonmati’s delivery.

  Barcelona’s comeback was complete after Lynn Wilms’ attempted clearance instead deflected off team-mate Kathrin Hendrich, allowing Mariona Caldentey to tap the ball to Rolfo, who fired in the 70th-minute winner from the edge of the six-yard box.

  Both benches showed nerves during seven minutes of stoppage time, but it was Barca who ultimately survived a late scare to secure the trophy.