By Ian King
It’s been a busy week for both sides
As unpredictable as they are at the moment, Manchester United’s 3-0 Europa League semi-final first leg win in Bilbao was a commanding performance. For half an hour they were under siege, but they soaked it up, took their chances when they fell, and came away from the Basque Country with a handsome win. But then they went to Brentford on Sunday, forgot how to defend for an hour, and ended up losing 4-3.
Athletic Club drew their weekend game – a goalless derby at Real Sociedad – and remain fourth in LaLiga, although they’ve now only won five of their last 14 games in the league, with others around them gaining ground.
A match up with a long history
These two have a history going back to the early days of European club football, and their first meeting was a very curious one. The Busby Babes travelled to Bilbao in the European Cup quarter-finals in January 1957 and lost 5-3, but won the second leg 3-0 three weeks later in a match played at Maine Road because Old Trafford didn’t have floodlights installed at the time. Having beaten Athletic 6-5 on aggregate they got them installed for their semi-final against Real Madrid, but lost 5-3 on aggregate.
Key Players
If Manchester United are going to get through to the final of this year’s Europa League, they’ll need a strong defensive performance, and this could mean a busy night for Harry Maguire at the centre of it all. Their lead is a comfortable one, but it can hardly be said that United haven’t got the yips when put under pressure in the past.
The flip-side to this is that Athletic need goals, and the problem there is that they’ve only scored one in their last four games. And with the attacking players they’ll be missing in Manchester, that issue may be critical.
Team News
Matthijs de Ligt had to be withdrawn during their weekend defeat at Brentford and will be assessed before the match. At 17 years and 156 days old, Chido Obi-Martin became the youngest player to start for Manchester United in the Premier League (and their 13th youngest overall) last weekend, but he’s ineligible to play in the Europa League, so Rasmus Højlund should return.
For Athletic, Dani Vivian is suspended after getting sent off in the first leg, while the Williams Brothers, duel attacking threats Nico and Iñaki have been left at home due to fitness issues, along with top scorer Oihan Sancet.
Prediction
The biggest hurdle that Athletic Club face in this match is pulling back a three-goal deficit when they’ve only scored one in their last four games. An early goal could see the colour drain from United faces and turn the pressure up, while Athletic probably can’t have a worse evening than they did last Thursday. That said, a 2-1 home win should provide a relatively stress-free night at Old Trafford.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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