The biggest week of the season is here for Manchester United as they face Athletic Club twice in the Europa League semifinals with their campaign at stake.
With Man Utd languishing in the bottom half of the table, the Europa League is the backdoor to Champions League football and to kickstart Ruben Amorim’s revolution with a boost.
In their way stands a team that is itching to play the Europa League final with home advantage, having ‘special’ players as per Amorim and have scouted United well.
To save Amorim’s debut season at Old Trafford, his squad will have to repeat what was last done at United all the way back in 1957.
Man Utd’s remarkable record
United have made it a bit of a habit of breaking all sorts of wrong records since Sir Alex Ferguson retired because they were so dominant under him.
However, to progress in the Europa League, they will have to beat the right kind of record, something which even Sir Alex didn’t manage to do.
United have faced Athletic Club four times in European competitions and have managed to win only one game, all the way back in 1957.
That 3-0 victory came at Old Trafford after the team had lost the away game by a margin of 5-3! Since then, two more fixtures were played in the 2011/12 season in the Europa League.
Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic blew away Sir Alex’s Man Utd, winning 2-1 at home and then following it up with a commanding 3-2 victory at Old Trafford.
The latter was the game that made Ander Herrera a star and he eventually signed with the club under Louis van Gaal after being chased for a long time.
How Man Utd can beat Athletic
Amorim cut a hopeful figure after the Bournemouth draw in the league because he believed Bournemouth were perfect Athletic clones in a way.
He also talked about their strengths in great detail before the game but knowing the game plan is one thing, executing is another entirely.
United will need to start strong and take the sting out of the away game early because Athletic rely on their energy to make fast starts at home.
A draw away from home will be a massive result because Athletic are giants at home and will be seeking to land a fatal blow on United at San Mames.
From there, leveraging the power of Old Trafford to play the game on their terms in the second leg should be the template, hopefully with no repeat of the Lyon headache, only heroics!
This might just be the most difficult week of the season considering what’s at stake and the 68-year-old history United will have to repeat to make it happen.
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