Ruben Amorim claims Man Utd could ‘have a problem’ if one key player couldn’t play vs Athletic Club, he had to protect him

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Ruben Amorim said that he made a tactical decision around one Manchester United star in the Brentford match ahead of the Europa League tie against Athletic Club.

The Red Devils will resume their 2024-25 Europa League campaign on Thursday evening with their important second-leg semi-final clash at Old Trafford.

Manchester United hold the advantage over Athletic Club after the Red Devils picked up a sensational 3-0 win in the first-leg match last Thursday in Spain.

Ruben Amorim cannot afford any slip-ups in the Europa League run, which would offer United a route back to Europe next season with Champions League football.

The 40-year-old United manager would also be able to sign off the season with his first piece of major silverware at Old Trafford if United lift the Europa League trophy.

Amorim’s men are in full control of their Europa League destiny after United’s first-leg result against Athletic Club at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao on 1st May.

Either United or Athletic Club will face fellow semi-finalists Bodo/Glimt or Tottenham in the 2025 Europa League final on 21st May in Spain.

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Ruben Amorim sends a clear-cut message about Luke Shaw after Man Utd’s Premier League defeat to Brentford

Ruben Amorim handed Luke Shaw the Manchester United captain’s armband after Bruno Fernandes was dropped to the bench for the match against Brentford.

The former Sporting CP head coach rotated his United first-team squad for the Red Devils’ Premier League visit to the Gtech Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Luke Shaw’s season at Old Trafford has again been disrupted by injuries and Amorim has been managing his minutes to ease his return to first-team action.

The 29-year-old England left-back started the match as the left-sided centre-back in Amorim’s tactical system for United and only played the first half on the weekend.

Amorim lost Matthijs de Ligt to injury in the first half and he made the tactical decision to withdraw Shaw after the break and replaced him with Leny Yoro.

Shaw underwhelmed United fans with his performance and Amorim has admitted that he could not risk losing the Red Devils and Three Lions left-back to injury.

“No, it was just [a case of resting] Luke Shaw as, with Matta, we don’t know what will happen on Thursday,” Amorim said, as per Manchester United’s official website.

“If we don’t have Luke Shaw available, we can have a problem, and then we don’t have enough defenders for the game.”

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Ruben Amorim was asked about injury concerns around Luke Shaw after Man Utd’s Premier League match vs Brentford

Brentford defeated United 4-3 at the Gtech Community Stadium and Thomas Frank’s men walked away with all three Premier League points on Sunday.

Following the Premier League result between United and Brentford, Amorim made his position clear that he was protecting Luke Shaw and the player was not injured.

When asked if Shaw was injured, Amorim responded: “No, no, no, no, no.

“What I’m saying is that we have to protect some players at half-time, thinking about Thursday.

“So, it was just that, not about thinking about [how] the game [had gone].”

The second-leg Europa League semi-final tie between United and Athletic Club is slated for an 8pm UK kick-off time at Old Trafford on Thursday.