Man United’s Ruben Amorim cautious of Athletic Club comeback

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is wary of Athletic Club’s comeback in the second-leg semifinal of the UEFA Europa League. United won the first-leg semifinal against the Spanish club by 3-0 at Bilbao and the second leg will be played at Old Trafford.

However, the Portuguese manager isn’t taking things for granted as he said that the opposition is capable of making a comeback despite their three-goal advantage.

In the history of the UEFA Cup and Europa League, 133 teams have won a knock-out tie first leg away from home by three or more goals and each time they have progressed.

“If you look at our season, anything is possible,” the United coach said.

“We have to understand one goal can change anything. The momentum of the game, one sending off, you saw it a week ago. We are fighting to win the game. We are thinking about winning the game.”

Athletic Club have won one of their last 10 away games across all competitions, whereas United are unbeaten in their last 17 Europa League knock-out home games.

“Sometimes during the game we are one team, something happens and we lose our mind a little bit,” Amorim said.

“If you look at our team we cannot say today what is going to happen.

“Some teams, the story is going to be like this and control the narrative. We cannot do that. I feel we need to score to go to the next round. We will have to suffer a bit to go to the final.”

Matthijs de Ligt is not available for selection after picking up a knee injury at the Gtech Community Stadium.

“It is not a big issue and that is the good thing,” Amorim said, when asked about De Ligt’s fitness.

“He cannot play tomorrow or Sunday [against West Ham] but then we will check day by day.”

The second leg will be played at Old Trafford on Thursday.