United missed out on qualifying for the Champions League after losing to Tottenham Hotspur in the Europa League final last week. A win would have guaranteed automatic qualification for next season’s Champions League.

Amorim, who along with the rest of the United team are in Malaysia to take on the Asean All-Stars for tomorrow’s Maybank Challenge Cup, said not playing in the Champions League “could be an advantage to perform well”.

“(It gives us the advantage) to better prepare for the matches (in the domestic competitions) and to build on the core that we need for the future.

“So, it is a good thing and we can take advantage of it,” he said at a press conference here.

Also present was United midfielder Mason Mount, Pro-Events Group CEO Julian Kam, Asean Football Federation president Khiev Sameth and Football Association of Malaysia president Joehari Ayub.

Amorim also said that without the Champions League, United did not require “a big squad”.

“We can control the squad better.”

However, Amorim was coy when asked what his target was for the next season. He just said that for now, it would be to win the first game.

Still, when it comes to Manchester United, people expect the team “to be on top”.

“But we have to understand the context. So, I don’t want the team to think about a big target. Just the small target, (which) is winning the first game,” he said, adding that there was a lot the club needed to do in the summer.