Bruno Fernandes previews Real Sociedad ahead of Europa League clash, highlights key instruction for Man Utd teammates

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Manchester United are preparing to face Real Sociedad in the last 16 of the Europa League.

There is only one trophy left to win for Manchester United this season after crashing out of the FA Cup on Sunday.

United lost on penalties against Fulham in a game that finished 1-1 after 120 minutes. It was a game that saw the Reds’ defence of the FA Cup shatter before their eyes and now all of the eggs have gone into the Europa League basket.

The opening goal by Calvin Bassey put United on the back-foot before the interval.

However, Bruno Fernandes gave United hope that a comeback was possible when he produced a stunning finish that equalled the scoring with under 20 minutes of normal time remaining.

Ruben Amorim’s side continued the fight for extra time but neither side could find the winner which led to a penalty shootout.

Fulham went into the draw and will face Crystal Palace at home in the FA Cup quarter-finals.

Next up for United is a trip to Real Sociedad for the first leg of their Europe League round of 16 tie.

Bruno Fernandes previews Real Sociedad tie

United are out of the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and sit 15^th in the Premier League table.

The only chance United have of qualifying for the Champions League is by going all the way in the Europa League.

United captain Fernandes has revealed United’s main focus after crashing out of the FA Cup and he will be looking to inspire the team to return to winning ways on Thursday night.

Having played against Real Sociedad in two-legged ties twice before during his time as a Red, Fernandes has issued a warning to his teammates.

Fernandes has warned that the La Liga outfit has good attacking players. He also issued an instruction for United’s first team.

“We know that we had many injuries in this period and we don’t have as many players and we’ve been playing almost always with the same players for long spells, it’s been difficult,” Fernandes told ManUtd.com.

“We just now need to recover, focus ourselves to the best we can to get [to our] best, fresh legs to the next games.

“It’s going to be a tough one, a Spanish team that plays brilliant football, very, very good players up front, very [high] quality coming out from the back, so we need to be fresh to run again because they will make us run, and then when we have the ball, we have to make them run, too.”

Manchester United record vs Real Sociedad

This tie sees these two sides meet in the Europa League for the third time in six season. It’s also the second time they will face off in the knockout phase of the competition.

However, United have played Real Sociedad six times in total, with Champions League meetings included.

United will be aiming to extend their tally of wins against the Spanish side.