Manchester United are just 90 minutes from reaching the Europa League final, and only a complete turnaround by Athletic Club would deny that.
It was a brilliant night in Europe for Manchester United, which saw arguably the best performance under Ruben Amorim so far.
Despite the drama of a 5-4 victory over Lyon being held highly among fans, Thursday saw United much more controlled against Athletic Club, managing the game exceptionally well from a lead which looks insurmountable.
Casemiro was the star of the show for United, with his goal kicking things off before he rolled back the years to dominate Bilbao in the midfield area.
While Casemiro was seen as the standout, Bruno Fernandes scored twice to etch his name further into legend status at United.
However, before the first goal went in, there were a few worrying moments from United, which were all of their own doing. During the game, Rio Ferdinand noticed United making one small error, which almost proved costly.
Rio Ferdinand noticed Manchester United’s sloppy passing
Before the game became a cake-walk for United, it was an end-to-end start. However, all of Bilbao’s positive play came through United errors in trying to build out from the back.
Sloppy passes and weak moments on the ball allowed Bilbao to take advantage of a nervy start from some United players. Speaking on commentary for TNT Sports, Ferdinand spoke in the 20th minute about one thing he noticed United were getting wrong.
“I’ll tell you what the details in the passes from United at the moment are off. The detail I’m talking about is passing the ball on the right side of the player.
“[Andre] Onana is kicking it out to the left-sided defender, he’s making him run back toward his own goal, bringing pressure from the opponents.
“Those little details give a player an extra second or two to look at things when they receive the ball.”
This was the case in particular with Onana’s passes to Patrick Dorgu or Manuel Ugarte, as both struggled to keep hold of the ball early on.
However, it was as though the players heard Ferdinand, as the problem did not last for long. But while it was happening, it could have been costly as it led to Bilbao’s only chances in the game.
United ended with an 89 per cent pass completion rate and 73 per cent possession, most of which came after a rocky start. As a whole, it is a display that should give confidence in Amorim being a future success.
Andre Onana bounces back for Manchester United
Onana was a complete disaster on United’s last continental trip when he was at fault for both of Lyon’s goals in a 2-2 draw.
This could have been a game that all but ended Onana’s career in goal for United, but he didn’t let it, and has since shown signs of bouncing back.
Keeping a clean sheet away from home in a European semi-final is always impressive, and he has set his side up for a comfortable progression route to the final next week.
Onana made two saves in the game, and while Ferdinand questioned his passing early on, it did improve as the game went on, as he did all the basics correctly.
A quiet night for Onana means a good night for United, and hopefully, this is also the case for the second leg and then also the final in three weeks.
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