Key events
19 min: Lindelof is the hero here, though! Nico Williams sends his brother Inaki scampering into acres down the right. Inaki pulls back for Berenguer, who aims a shot towards the bottom left. Lindelof kicks off the line and away. A lot of space behind the United defence there.
17 min: … and with this in mind, United pass the ball around the back awhile. They’ve enjoyed 65 percent of possession so far. All good … but then Lindelof allows his pocket to be picked by Iñaki Williams, and the defender’s fortunate that Williams can’t find Sannadi with a pass infield. Sannadi would have been through on goal otherwise.
15 min: Maguire is clipped by Berenguer near his own box. He takes his sweet time over the restart, a professional move to extract a little bit of energy from the home support.
13 min: Both teams are in a physical mood, both teams are playing at 101 mph. The referee also seems of a mind to let things go. There could be fireworks.
11 min: A huge chance for Bilbao. Berenguer swings in from the left. Iñaki Williams gets in ahead of the entire United back line and flashes a header over the bar from six yards. He should have hit the target at the very least. He probably should have scored.
9 min: Fernandes rolls a pass down the right for the lively Garnacho, who jinks into the box only to run slap-bang into Álvarez. There goes that move. But this is a promising start from United.
8 min: One corner leads to another, then Yuri meets a cross from the left and heads wide right. A bright start in attack by both sides.
7 min: Ugarte is stripped in midfield and Berenguer strides forward. He aims a low drive towards the bottom left. Onana does well to turn it around the post at full stretch.
6 min: Yep, it was clear enough. Garnacho went far too early. Shame for United, who cut Bilbao open with ease. That’s no mean feat, given nobody in the top-five leagues in Europe have let in fewer goals at home than Bilbao. (Their 10 beats Napoli and Forest’s 11, and Liverpool and Torino’s 13.)
5 min: United have the ball in the Bilbao net! Ugarte slips a pass down the inside-right channel to release Garnacho, who enters the box and forces a shot through Agirrezabala and into the goal. But the flag pops up for offside. VAR will double-check, though.
3 min: … but nothing comes of it, Ruiz De Galarreta attempting a shot from distance that bounces apologetically through to Onana.
2 min: Bilbao on the front foot quickly. Nico Williams makes good down the left and looks for his brother Inaki at the far stick. Dorgu is forced to turn it behind for the first corner of the game.
Toss! Slap! Swap! Parp! And then a shrill blast of the referee’s whistle. United get the ball rolling. San Mamés roars. Roar!
The teams are out! Bilbao in their Southampton c.1909 red and white stripes, United in Wembley ‘68 dark blue. A home banner reveals the slogan: UNIQUE IN THE WORLD. We’ll be off once coins have been tossed, palms slapped, pennants swapped, and corporate anthems parped. San Mamés jumping!
Ruben Amorim speaks to TNT Sports. “We are managing the minutes of Luke [Shaw] … also Vic [Lindelof] is playing well … we need to be strong in defence … he is good on the ball … it is everything together … [De Ligt and Diallo] can play but we need to be careful with them … they press really high so we can use our pace behind … we have players to do that, especially Garnacho … we have also set pieces because Bruno can deliver good balls in the box, so we will try everything … we have shown we can win these kind of games … we have to be ready … better than against Bournemouth … in the beginning we were not ready for pressure … so we have to be better in the first minutes.”
Pre-match entertainment. Sid Lowe speaks to Iñaki Williams about a Basque institution that is not only a club, but also a way of life.
Athletic Club finished second in the mega-group, one place behind Lazio, one place ahead of Manchester United. Given Spurs are contesting the other semi-final tonight, and Lazio were knocked out on penalties in the quarters, this table proved to be quite the harbinger on the whole. (For the record, Lazio’s quarter-final conquerors, and Tottenham’s opponents this evening, Bodø/Glimt, finished ninth in the table.)
Anyway, Bilbao subsequently did for Roma and Rangers, while United have seen off Bilbao’s arch-rivals Real Sociedad and Lyon. And here we are.
Manchester United make two changes to their starting XI after the 1-1 draw at Bournemouth on Sunday. Victor Lindelöf and Manuel Ugarte take the places of Luke Shaw and Kobbie Mainoo, who both drop to the bench. Alongside them in the dugout: returning heroes Amad Diallo and Matthijs de Ligt.
Athletic’s star man Nico Williams had been an injury doubt, but he came on as a sub during his team’s 1-0 La Liga win over Las Palmas last Wednesday, and is back in the starting XI tonight. As for the rest of the team, it’s the return of the Las Palmas nine, with the only other player stepping up being goalkeeper Julen Agirrezabala. Unai Simón drops to the bench, while Oihan Sancet misses out altogether.
The teams
Athletic Club: Agirrezabala, de Marcos, Vivian, Álvarez, Yuri, Jauregizar, Ruiz De Galarreta, Iñaki Williams, Berenguer, Nico Williams, Sannadi.
Subs: Boiro, Canales, Gomez, Prados, Nunez, Lekue, Djalo, Guruzeta, Vesga, Paredes, Gorosabel, Simon.
Manchester United: Onana, Yoro, Maguire, Lindelöf, Mazraoui, Casemiro, Ugarte, Dorgu, Garnacho, Fernandes, Højlund.
Subs: Bayindir, Heaton, de Ligt, Mount, Eriksen, Diallo, Shaw, Mainoo, Amass, Fredricson, Kamason, Mantato.
Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway).
VAR: Per Svärd (Sweden).
Preamble
These two grand old clubs have very different records in Europe. Manchester United have won six trophies on the continent; Athletic Club of Bilbao are still searching for their first. And yet on the head-to-head, things are much more of a piece. The clubs have met competitively only twice before: in the 1956-57 European Cup quarter-finals, when United overturned a 5-3 first-leg defeat with a 3-0 win at Maine Road, Dennis Viollet, Tommy Taylor and Johnny Berry with the goals under the floodlights that necessitated their playing across the city; and in the 2011-12 Europa League round of 16, Athletic winning home and away to chalk up a 5-3 aggregate victory, Fernando Llorente one of the scorers doing the damage at Old Trafford.
Let’s tot it up, then. One tie apiece. Three Athletic wins to one for United. Ten Athletic goals to nine by United. Could it be much closer? Not really, no. And another goalfest could well be on the cards, because Athletic have won six our of six at Estadio de San Mamés during their run to this Europa League semi-final, scoring 14 times along the way, while United’s carry-on in the previous round against Lyon told you all you need to know about them. This could be great fun, then. Kick-off is at 9pm Basque Country time, 8pm BST. It’s on!
