Thursday night saw Manchester United take a massive step toward a Europa League final, with a 3-0 aggregate lead heading back to Old Trafford next week.
It was a game tipped to be incredibly tough, and many Manchester United supporters would likely have settled for a 0-0 result over at San Mames in the knowledge that it is a difficult place to go.
Athletic Club had won every home game in the Europa League this season, but their record was brutally ended by United, who made easy work of the La Liga’s fourth-best team.
The 3-0 win for United over Bilbao was unexpected, but thoroughly deserved, with the entire squad performing well for Ruben Amorim to finally see a game go well and problem-free.
Several United players had strong performances, with none being more impressive than Casemiro, who was MUTV’s pick for man of the match after he scored and dominated the midfield against an opponent he knows well from his time at Real Madrid.
Aside from Casemiro, it was Bruno Fernandes who scored the other two goals and put himself into the Europa League history books again in doing so.
However, there was one unsung hero from the game who passed a tough assignment with flying colours.
Nico Williams struggles against Noussair Mazraoui
United were warned about Nico Williams ahead of Thursday’s semi-final by both Ander Herrera and Christian Eriksen. In addition, before the game, Amorim labelled Williams as being a ‘special’ player, highlighting the winger as the danger man for Bilbao.
The absence of Diogo Dalot through injury only added to the concern over how Williams would be dealt with, but when the game came to a close, the 22-year-old barely made a mark at all.
With just 38 touches, Williams created zero chances and completed just one dribble while not helping out defensively. It was a poor performance on the highest stage, which won’t be tempting Arsenal to splash out on his massive contract demands rumoured to be around £400,000-a-week.
While it could be argued Williams was poor, it is more likely that Mazraoui was just that good, as he completely locked down the left winger.
Mazraoui lasted 74 minutes, and in this time, he won 100 per cent of his four tackles attempted, made eight defensive actions, and won seven duels.
- 74 minutes
- 1 shot which hit the crossbar
- 29/34 passes completed
- 1 chance created
- 52 touches
- 4/4 tackles
- 3 clearances
- 8 defensive actions
- 4 recoveries
- 7/10 duels won
Williams didn’t manage to dribble past Mazraoui once as the Moroccan once again made his £12m fee look like a ridiculously good deal, considering he is probably worth at least triple that right now.
Noussair Mazraoui is the future of Manchester United
It is rare for a signing to be so seamless and perfect in his first season for United. But the Moroccan is a very special talent and has been Ineos’ biggest success story.
Amorim was an instant fan of Mazraoui, saying he is the ‘future of our team’ due to his understanding of the game and that he has versatility across a range of positions.
“In training, I don’t see him a lot, but in games, he’s a top player, because he understands the game.
“He knows how to attack, he’s very technical, he’s very good defensively, and he’s very good one-on-one. He’s a modern player.
“I think he’s the future of our team. When you think about him, you think like we need more players like Nous that can control the tempo, they are really, really good and comfortable with the ball.”
At the age of 27, Mazraoui is not literally the ‘future’, but in terms of the kind of players Amorim wants, he does fit the bill. This is seen going into the summer, with United looking for players who understand football and can do a lot of jobs for Amorim.
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