Manchester United vs Athletic Club

Old Trafford is the venue as Manchester United and Athletic Club go head-to-head in the return leg of their all-but-determined UEFA Europa League semi-final tie. 

Manchester United seized an early man advantage to thump Athletic Club 3-0 in the first leg and set one foot in a Europa League final for the first time since 2021. The 2017 winners have enjoyed a near-flawless European campaign, avoiding defeat in all 13 Europa League outings (W8, D5), suggesting their progression from this tie is a ‘done deal.’ However, there’s no room for complacency, considering United’s porous backline capitulated four times in a 4-3 defeat at Brentford last weekend. Confidence comes from the Red Devils’ 100% win ratio across 20 previous UEFA two-legged ties when winning the first leg away from home. Ruben Amorim must pay attention to his misfiring frontline after Man Utd failed to get on the scoresheet in two of their last three competitive games at Old Trafford.

In the meantime, Athletic Club failed to recover from a first-leg battering as they shared the spoils with fierce Basque rivals Real Sociedad in a scoreless draw last weekend. Hardly hit by injuries, the visitors travel to England without the Williams brothers and talismanic playmaker Oihan Sancet. Therefore, they’ll need a miracle to halt a three-game winless run in Europa League away matches (D1, L2). As if that’s not worrying enough, Los Leones have suffered seven defeats across their nine previous trips to face English opposition (W1, D1). Yet, their only win in that sequence came against Man Utd en route to making the Europa League final in 2012.