Manchester United take a 3-0 lead back to Old Trafford for their Europa League semi-final second leg clash with Athletic Bilbao
Ruben Amorim admits he does not know which version of his Manchester United team will show up on Thursday night. But the United boss knows whichever one does, they are going to suffer in their make-or-break Europa League semi-final tie with Athletic Bilbao.
Even though United hold a 3-0 lead from the first leg, where they played for an hour against 10 men, Amorim knows he cannot take anything for granted, given his side’s erratic form. United have conceded three times or more at Old Trafford on six different occasions this season, which is why Amorim is understandably reluctant to believe the tie is all but won.
Asked if he was unsure which United side will turn up tonight, Amorim was blunt and said: “Yeah, it’s hard to say. Sometimes, it’s not what kind of team we will be tomorrow.
“If you look at our team, we cannot say today what is going to happen. There are some teams in any league that can understand that the game is going to be like this.
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“Things can change a little bit, but the story is going to be like this and we can control the narrative of the game. We cannot do that.
“So we have to face the game as just one more game. I feel that we need to score to go to the next round, so that’s clearly the way we are going to face the game.
“Against Brentford, we were near to getting the draw, but we suffered a goal and suffered another goal, quite fast. That can happen. That has happened four times here, so we know we will have to suffer a little bit to go to the final, and we are ready to suffer and we need to better at the small details in this game.”
Amorim revealed he has only watched back the first 30 minutes of the first leg, in which United were under pressure and came close to conceding several times, to ensure he and his players do not repeat that shaky opening tonight. “I watched the first 30 minutes a lot of times and I forgot the rest,” said Amorim. “You cannot prepare for a game with 11 against 10, with a 2-0 lead at that moment.
“So, I watched the first 30 minutes back and I had the feeling again that they were really intense, but that most of the opportunities were a little bit our fault, that we had lost possession. It was hard to find some place where they built up from the defence, the midfielders, the forwards and then created the chances. It was more like we had the ball, we lost the ball and we had problems.
“So we watched it quite a few times and showed the players the simple moments, to show why we had so many problems in the first 30 minutes.”
This is already United’s worst season of the Premier League era, down in 15th place after 16 defeats. A few months ago, Amorim admitted this could be the worst side in United’s history – even if they win the Europa League and secure Champions League football for next season.
“In that moment – and if you look at the Premier League since I arrived – we are the worst team in terms of results,” said Amorim. “At the end of this season, we can be the worst United team in Premier League history – one with a European title. But that will change nothing.
“We know that this season was really disappointing for everybody, so nothing is going to change that. This season was the worst one – I don’t know if in history – but, for sure, in the last 50 years.”
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