MANCHESTER UNITED AIMS TO JOIN ELITE CLUB OF UNBEATEN FINALISTS WITH THREE-GOAL ADVANTAGE

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May 8, 2025 

Manchester United -  Athletic Club 

On Thursday, May 8, 2025, Manchester United will host Basque side Athletic Club in the return leg of the UEFA Europa League semifinal. The "Red Devils" enter the home fixture with a luxurious three-goal advantage from the first leg in Bilbao, which they won 3-0, and are well-positioned to advance to the European competition final.

European cup history is clear in this regard. In major European competitions, only one team has ever won the first leg away from home by three or more goals and still failed to progress. This unfortunate distinction belongs to Maccabi Tel Aviv against Olympiacos in the 2023-24 Conference League round of 16, when after a 4-1 away win, they lost 6-1 at home after extra time.

Matches between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao promise an offensive spectacle. In the five previous meetings between these teams, a total of 22 goals have been scored (average of 4.4 per game), with the "Red Devils" scoring 12 and conceding 10. All five encounters have seen at least three goals.

The Basque club has a negative record on English soil. Athletic Club has lost seven of their nine previous away games against English opponents in all European competitions (1 win, 1 draw). However, their last visit to England ended in victory - in March 2012, they defeated Manchester United 3-2 in the UEFA Europa League.

Manchester United is experiencing an impressive season in European competitions. The "Red Devils" are unbeaten in all 13 matches of this season's UEFA Europa League (8 wins, 5 draws) and could become only the seventh team to reach the final of this competition without a single defeat. Before them, only Benfica (2013-14), Chelsea (2018-19), Internazionale (2019-20), Villarreal (2020-21), Eintracht Frankfurt (2021-22), and Bayer Leverkusen (2023-24) achieved this feat.

After the 3-0 home defeat in the first leg, Athletic Club risks losing both legs of a knockout phase in a major European competition for only the third time in history. Previously, this happened in the 1967-68 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup quarterfinal against Ferencvárosi TC and in the 2017-18 UEFA Europa League round of 16 against Marseille.

Manchester United has made Old Trafford almost an impregnable fortress in the UEFA Europa League. The "Red Devils" have lost only one of their last 30 home matches in this competition (23 wins, 6 draws) - a 0-1 defeat to Real Sociedad in the group stage in September 2022. To be eliminated from this tie, they would need to lose by at least three goals, which has never happened to them in European competitions at home in their history.

Both teams excel in pressing and winning the ball in the attacking third of the pitch. Athletic Club has forced the most shot-ending high turnovers of any team in this season's UEFA Europa League (26), while Manchester United ranks second in this statistic (23).

Manchester United has scored 31 goals in this season's UEFA Europa League - more than any other team. Only in the 2002-03 (32) and 2020-21 (34) seasons did they manage to score more goals in a single edition of a major European competition.

Iñaki Williams is a key offensive weapon for the Basque side on away grounds. He has scored four of Athletic Club's seven away goals in this season's UEFA Europa League (57%). The only player who has scored more away goals in a single season of European competition for the Basque club is Aritz Aduriz, who did it twice, both in the UEFA Europa League (6 in the 2015-16 season, 5 in the 2017-18 season).

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim has a chance to become the first manager since Thomas Tuchel with Chelsea in the 2020-21 UEFA Champions League to advance to the final of a major European competition in his first season at the helm of an English club. Among Manchester United managers, only José Mourinho achieved this success in the 2016-17 UEFA Europa League.

Photo: source XYZ 

We thank OPTA for providing the statistical data.

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