Seeking to finish the job and secure their place in the Europa League final, Manchester United welcome Athletic Bilbao to Old Trafford for the second leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday night.
The Red Devils have put themselves in a strong position to return to San Mames Stadium, where this season’s showpiece event will be held, after claiming a 3-0 first-leg win in the Basque Country.
Match preview
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Athletic Bilbao had won all six of their Europa League matches at San Mames and had not lost on home soil for over eight months in all competitions before Man United came to town and secured a surprising, yet emphatic, three-goal victory against 10 men, courtesy of first-half strikes from Bruno Fernandes (2) and Casemiro.
The Red Devils remain unbeaten in this season’s Europa League (W8 D5) and could become only the seventh team – and only the second English side after Chelsea (2018-19) – to reach the Europa League final without losing en route, but head coach Ruben Amorim has insisted that the tie is not over just yet as “anything can happen in one game”.
Since celebrating their biggest away win in the semi-finals of a major European competition, Man United have been brought back down to earth by Brentford in the Premier League, as they suffered a 4-3 defeat in last weekend’s action-packed contest at the Gtech Community Stadium where Amorim fielded the youngest PL starting lineup in the club’s history.
Sitting 15th in the Premier League table having lost 16 of their 35 matches this season, Man United are guaranteed to finish with their lowest points total of the PL era (currently 39) and cannot finish higher than 12th place, so success in the Europa League is required to secure qualification for the 2025-26 Champions League.
One comforting statistic for Man United ahead of Thursday’s second leg is that 133 teams have won the first leg of a Europa League/UEFA Cup knockout tie by three or more goals away from home and all 133 teams have gone on to progress to the next round. The Red Devils are also unbeaten in their last 11 Europa League games at Old Trafford since losing 1-0 to Real Sociedad in September 2022.
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Not since 2011-12 have Athletic Bilbao reached a European final and they have a mountain to climb at Old Trafford if they wish to progress to this season’s showpiece event at their own stadium, while they are also in danger of seeing their domestic campaign fizzle out into disappointment, as a top four-finish in La Liga is not a foregone conclusion.
Indeed, just five wins in 14 Spanish top-flight matches for Athletic has allowed Villarreal in fifth to move to within three points of the Basque-based outfit in fourth spot with four games remaining. Ernesto Valverde‘s side most recently played out a goalless stalemate with Real Sociedad away from home last weekend, registering just one of their three shots on target throughout the 90 minutes.
Goals have been hard to come by for Athletic, who have failed to make the net ripple in six of their last nine games across all competitions, including two of their last three in the Europa League, and Valverde has admitted that “competing at this level while also juggling other commitments is challenging.”
The Spanish side must rediscover their clinical touch in front of goal on Thursday as they endeavour to become just the second team in major European competition history to progress from a knockout tie after losing the first leg at home by three or more goals, after Olympiakos did so in the 2023-24 Conference League (losing 4-1 in the first leg before winning the second leg 6-1).
Athletic are bidding to avoid losing both home and away legs of a major European knockout tie for just the third time in their history (after the 1967-68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup quarter-final and 2017-18 Europa League last 16). They also head to Old Trafford having lost seven of their nine previous away meetings with English clubs in all European competitions (W1 D1), although their most recent trip was a successful one, as they won a Europa League clash 3-2 at Man United in March 2012 under former boss Marcelo Bielsa.
Team News
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Man United are sweating over the fitness of Matthijs de Ligt who was forced off with a muscle problem in the defeat to Brentford. The Dutchman and Toby Collyer (leg) will be assessed ahead of kickoff, while Lisandro Martinez (knee), Joshua Zirkzee (thigh), Diogo Dalot (calf) and Ayden Heaven (ankle) all remain sidelined.
Chido Obi-Martin (17 years, 156 days) became the youngest player in Man United’s history to start in the Premier League last weekend, but he is ineligible to play in the Europa League, so Rasmus Hojlund is set to return up front, with captain Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho providing support in attack.
Amorim will weigh up whether to hand Victor Lindelof a start in central defence. Noussair Mazraoui could also be used as a right-sided centre-back if Amorim opts to hand Amad Diallo a start at right wing-back after impressing in recent substitute appearances since recovering from injury.
As for Athletic Bilbao, key defender Dani Vivian is suspended after being sent off in last week’s first leg, so Aitor Paredes is expected to deputise at centre-back alongside Yeray Alvarez.
Valverde has revealed that in-demand attacker Nico Williams, experienced full-back Oscar De Marcos and top scorer Oihan Sancet – who missed the first leg with a hamstring injury – will all need to be assessed ahead of kickoff.
The potential absence of both Sancet and Nico Williams could see his brother Inaki Williams and Alex Berenguer operate out wide as Unai Gomez takes up the number 10 role behind either Maroan Sannadi or Gorka Guruzeta. Andoni Gorosabel, meanwhile, could play at right-back if De Marcos is not fit to start.
Manchester United possible starting lineup:
Onana; Lindelof, Maguire, Yoro; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Casemiro, Dorgu; Fernandes, Garnacho; Hojlund
Athletic Bilbao possible starting lineup:
Agirrezabala; De Marcos, Paredes, Alvarez, Berchiche; De Galarreta, Jauregizar; I. Williams, Berenguer, N. Williams; Sannadi
We say: Manchester United 3-2 Athletic Bilbao (Man Utd to win 6-2 on aggregate)
In the five previous meetings between Man United and Athletic Bilbao, there have been a total of 22 goals at an average of 4.4 goals per game, with the Red Devils scoring 12 and conceding 10. All five of those matches have seen at least three goals scored and another goal-fest could be on the cards on Thursday.
Athletic simply have to improve in the final third and must throw everything they can at a Man United backline that has kept just two clean sheets in their last nine games in all competitions. However, a three-goal deficit is likely to be too much for the Spanish outfit to overturn and we believe that the Red Devils will ultimately find a way to outscore their opponents in front of a fired-up Old Trafford crowd to seal their spot in the Europa League final.
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