Man United Boss Remains Cautious Ahead of Athletic Club Clash, Calls It “A Final”.
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim struck a cautious tone ahead of Thursday night’s UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Club at Old Trafford. They hold a 3-0 advantage from the first leg that was played in Bilbao. Even so, the Portuguese tactician warned his side must be ready to “suffer” to secure a place in the final.
Amorim gave squad updates confirming that Matthijs de Ligt remains sidelined after picking up a knee injury in their recent Brentford game, saying: “It is not a big issue. That is a good thing. He cannot play tomorrow and he’ll not play on Sunday [vs West Ham United] but then we’ll check day-by-day.”
He also informed that Toby Collyer and Ayden Heaven are unavailable as well. Christian Eriksen missed Wednesday’s open training. However, he is expected to feature in today’s match. Thankfully for the Red Devils, no other fresh injuries were reported by the manager.
The Europa League winners are guaranteed a Champions League spot next season. With an awful Premier League campaign this season, this game is extremely important for the Red Devils to qualify for next season’s Champions League. Amorim stressed the importance of staying mentally sharp in this game, saying:
“We are prepared to fight to win the game, not thinking about the result [of the tie]. We need to go to the game. It is a final for us and we need to go to it to win the game.”
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Despite United’s inconsistent domestic form, Amorim remains hopeful. However, he also reminded his players of United’s quarter-final scare against Lyon and warned that momentum can shift rapidly. saying:
“We are improving the way we play, we are more confident and we are ready to face this challenge. One goal can change everything… we will have to suffer a little bit to go to the final.”
Athletic will be without key players including the Williams brothers and Oihan Sancet, but Amorim played down the impact. He insisted, “It doesn’t matter. For us, it’s the top team of Athletic.”
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He was also asked about transfer speculation around captain Bruno Fernandes. Answering them, Amorim said, “It is normal that lots of clubs want players like Bruno, Garnacho and others, but we want to keep our best players and Bruno is clearly one of the top players in the world.”
The match, set to be a thrilling clash at their home, Man United are chasing their first Europa League final appearance since 2017. The other semi-final between Bodo/Glimt and Spurs is also set to begin at the same time in Norway. The winners of the two games and on aggregate will face each other in the final. Chances are, it will be an all Premier League final.
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