Manchester United resume their quest to win the Europa League when they travel to Spain to face Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena in the first leg of their last-16 tie on Thursday night.
While the Red Devils secured third spot in the 36-team League Phase standings, La Real finished 13th and required a 7-3 aggregate victory over FC Midtjylland in the playoff round to reach the knockout rounds.
Match preview
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A pivotal week for Ruben Amorim‘s Man United began in disappointing fashion on Sunday as the FA Cup holders were knocked out in the fifth round by Fulham, losing 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils are guaranteed to end their domestic campaign trophyless and as they languish 14th in the Premier League table, 13 points behind the top five with 11 games remaining, the pressure is on Amorim and co to deliver Europa League glory if they wish to qualify for next season’s Champions League and salvage something positive from what has been a dismal 2024-25 campaign.
While Man United’s recent form on the domestic front has been patchy, they are somewhat surprisingly the only remaining Europa League team who are yet to lose in this season’s competition after recording three draws and then five consecutive wins in their eight League Phase matches.
Only Galatasaray (19), Lazio and Tottenham Hotspur (both 17) scored more goals in the League Phase than Man United (16), who are averaging 18.8 shots per game in this season’s competition – their best ratio in a European campaign since records began in 2003-04.
The Red Devils can travel to San Sebastian hopeful of picking up a positive result on Thursday, as they have lost just one of their last eight European away matches in Spain (W5 D2), although that defeat was in fact their most recent such encounter at Sevilla (3-0) in the second leg of a Europa League quarter-final tie in 2022-23.
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Real Sociedad are in the midst of a challenging run of fixtures and they enter Thursday’s contest on the back of successive losses to Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona, losing 1-0 at home to the former in the Copa del Rey just five days before being thrashed 4-0 by the latter in La Liga on Sunday.
The 17th-minute dismissal of Aritz Elustondo proved costly, as Barca scored twice in the next 12 minutes before adding a third and a fourth midway through the second half to condemn La Real to their 12th La Liga defeat of the season and their fifth in eight top-flight games in 2025.
Imanol Alguacil‘s side may be required to go all the way in Europa League if they wish to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as they have slipped to ninth in the La Liga table and 12 points behind the top four with as many games remaining; they are also 10 points behind the top five and a guaranteed Europa League spot for next season.
Real Sociedad have never progressed beyond the last 16 in a major European competition in the 21st century and success on Thursday could be crucial if they wish to achieve that, as they have advanced from eight of their last 10 European knockout ties when they have won the first leg.
However, La Real have never beaten an English team on home soil (D1 L3), failing to score in each of their last three matches against none other than Man United, whom they have only beaten once overall in six previous European meetings – a slender 1-0 group-stage victory at Old Trafford in September 2022.
Team News
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Real Sociedad are set to be without Jon Pacheco (muscle) and Arsen Zakharyan (thigh), while Alvaro Odriozola (unspecified) is a doubt, but Sheraldo Becker and Takefusa Kubo are available to return after serving domestic suspension.
Both Martin Zubimendi and Jon Aramburu missed the Europa League second-leg win over Midtjylland through suspension, but they are ready to return on Thursday and will likely start in centre-midfield and at right-back respectively.
Alguacil will weigh up whether to recall top scorer Mikel Oyarzabal, who has nine goals to his name this term, or stick with centre-forward Orri Oskarsson who has netted a team-high four Europa League goals in seven games.
As for Man United, Lisandro Martinez (knee), Amad Diallo (ankle), while Kobbie Mainoo (calf), Luke Shaw (hamstring), Mason Mount, Altay Bayindir (both unspecified), Jonny Evans (muscle) and Toby Collyer (knock) all remain sidelined with injuries.
Harry Maguire (knock) and backup goalkeeper Tom Heaton (unspecified) are both doubtful and the potential absence of the former could see Victor Lindelof handed a start in central defence alongside Matthijs de Ligt and Leny Yoro, or Noussair Mazraoui could move from wing-back into the three-man defence.
January signing Patrick Dorgu is available to make his European debut for Man United after serving the first of a three-game domestic suspension last weekend, but 17-year-old forward Chido Obi-Martin is ineligible after he was not registered into the Red Devils’ Europa League squad that was submitted last month.
Amorim will consider starting both Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho in attack, which could therefore see one of Rasmus Hojlund or Joshua Zirkzee – two out-of-form strikers – drop down to the substitutes’ bench.
Real Sociedad possible starting lineup:
Remiro; Aramburu, Zubeldia, Aguerd, Munoz; Sucic, Zubimendi, Mendez; Kubo, Oyarzabal, Barrenetxea
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; De Ligt, Lindelof, Yoro; Dalot, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Zirkzee
We say: Real Sociedad 2-2 Manchester United
While first-leg fixtures can often be tight affairs, recent games involving Man United have been eventful and there may be plenty of action at both ends in Thursday’s contest considering the Red Devils have scored and conceded in six of their eight Europa League matches this term, while both teams have scored in eight of Real Sociedad’s 10 games in this season’s competition.
It is difficult to predict a Man United success due to their unpredictability under Amorim, but they face a Real Sociedad outfit struggling for form themselves, so an entertaining score draw could be on the cards in San Sebastian.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
