Manchester United are potentially 90 minutes away from reaching the Europa League final for the first time since hoisting the trophy in 2021.
Ruben Amorim’s charges seized an early numerical advantage in a thumping 3-0 win at Athletic Club in the first leg of their semi-final tie last week.
Captain Bruno Fernandes led by example, netting a first-half brace to lay the foundation for the Red Devils’ last chance to atone for a calamitous domestic season.
Old Trafford sets the stage for the return fixture as the joint-record English champions look to get the job done and potentially set up an all-Premier League final.
Fellow domestic underachievers Tottenham Hotspur are one step away from booking a mouth-watering final date after beating Bodo/Glimt 3-1 in the first leg of the other semi-final.
Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
It’s been an awkward season for Man Utd.
On the one hand, they’re on the verge of finishing in the bottom half of the table for the first time in the Premier League era.
On the other, they’re on the cusp of locking down a place in a European final without losing a single game.
Despite going unbeaten in all 13 Europa League outings this term (W8, D5), United’s continental campaign has not been stress-free.
By contrast, it’s been a thrilling ride.
Harry Maguire’s late heroics broke the tie in an unforgettable quarter-final showdown against Lyon, offering Man Utd a note of caution ahead of this encounter.
United’s confidence took another hit last weekend as Brentford poured more misery on their torrid Premier League journey.
Thomas Frank’s side fought back from an early deficit to beat the Red Devils 4-3 at the Gtech Community Stadium, consigning the Theatre of Dreams outfit to a sixth consecutive winless league match.
European heavyweights
Long-standing domestic issues are on course to tarnish Sir Alex Ferguson’s legacy, transforming United from a superpower to a club fighting merely for relevance in the upper echelons of English football.
However, the narrative has been starkly different in Europe, where the Red Devils’ pedigree and experience have offered a glimmer of hope for silverware amid domestic despair.
Adding to this sentiment, Man Utd’s track record in Europe’s second-tier competition is nothing short of admirable.
They have won 14 of their last 15 two-legged ties in this tournament, with the lone exception coming against Athletic’s fellow La Liga rivals Sevilla two seasons ago.
As if that’s not encouraging enough, the Red Devils boast a 100% win ratio across 20 previous UEFA ties when winning the first leg away from home.
It’s also worth noting that Amorim’s charges have only suffered one defeat in their last 24 Europa League clashes (W16, D7), underscoring their dominance on the continental front.
Done deal?
It would take something truly spectacular from Athletic to turn this tie on its head, not least because they head to Manchester on a three-game winless away run in the Europa League (D1, L2).
Despite emerging victorious from nine of their last 12 two-legged UEFA ties, this looks like a tall order for Ernesto Valverde’s team, whose record on these shores is anything but enviable.
Seven of Bilbao’s nine previous away matches against English opposition have ended in defeat (W1, D1), highlighting the scale of the task awaiting them on Thursday.
If there’s a silver lining, it’s the fact their only triumph on English soil came at Old Trafford in 2012 when they edged Ferguson’s Man Utd 3-2 en route to a runner-up finish.
That’s the only encouragement they can get, given that only once in the history of major European competitions has a team overturned a home first-leg defeat of 3+ goals to advance to the next round.
How could Man Utd line up?
(3-4-2-1): Onana; Lindelof, Maguire, Yoro; Mazraoui, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu; Garnacho, Fernandes; Hojlund.