Manchester United have gone one additional step further than any rivals expected in the Europa League, and the final isn’t far away
The popular verdict was that Manchester United were not going to make it. Yet here we are. Rival fans would have been seriously displeased, Athletic 3-0 down already at half time. United cruising. How does this keep happening? They’ve been so bad in the Premier League – their unlikely Europa League run was supposed to end with Bilbao.
It was supposed to end against Lyon in the last round too, but three goals in stoppage time and United went through to the semi-finals. Athletic were a different team to the French side though. They had only lost twice at home all season. The atmosphere at the San Mames had a reputation of being unpleasant to visiting teams. That was evident during the game, with almost the entire stadium of Bilbao fans wearing the team’s shirt, posing in unison against their English opponents.
United started decently and had much more of the ball, but Amorim’s side are stiff in passing and seem to have no clear idea of how to progress the ball past the centre of the park. The team needs passers in midfield, that much is evident. Athletic were patient and waited to pounce on United’s inevitable errors. The Spanish side were lively in United’s final third and should have gone ahead on several occasions, one being Inaki Williams’ profligate header after he had beaten United’s three centre-backs with a brilliant weaving run. Another was Alex Berenguer’s shot in the box that Victor Lindelof cleared virtually on the goal line.
Then Harry Maguire roleplayed United’s glorious right-wingers of ages past, Casemiro scored, and the game turned. United were lucky that Dani Vivian couldn’t keep his head and ended up denying Rasmus Hojlund a clear goalscoring opportunity to get sent off. But if the Spain international hadn’t done that, United would have been 2-0 up anyway, which is still really good performance away in Europe.
A good question is why Manchester United can manage results in the Europa League but are unable to produce the same in the Premier League. United are still unbeaten in Europe this season, the only club who can claim that honour. But that is in stark contrast to the Premier League, where they have lost 15 out of 34 games and currently sit in 14th place.
When Amorim was presented with this puzzling situation in his post-match presser, the Portuguese said, “We’ve improved in the last games. I don’t look just at the results. We had some games that we won that we didn’t play well and some games we lost but played well. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck.
“It’s hard to understand but sometimes it’s the context. We can win this competition. In the Premier League, we are suffering game after game. We try to manage both things with some injuries. Sometimes it’s hard, even for the players.”
In essence, the 40-year-old is suggesting that United are able to manage games better when there is a clear prize in sight, like dangling a carrot before a horse. They have the Europa League trophy to look forward to, whereas all they see in front of them in the Premier League is 13 places occupied by stubborn teams. Motivation is much higher to get results in Europe.
With the second leg approaching, Amorim urged his players to remain focused, saying that while the victory was significant, Athletic would come back with plans for an upset at Old Trafford. That is not unlikely. After all, there is precedent. This United team have shown the capacity to collapse under pressure at various times this season.
Remember the first 20 minutes of the first leg, Amorim would probably be telling his players over the next seven days. Remember the second half against Lyon. Remember.
