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Ruben Amorim admits Manchester United “can lose their minds” during games so is unsure how they will perform in Thursday’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Bilbao, despite holding a 3-0 lead.
United are favourites to reach this month’s final at the San Mamés after their victory there last week thanks to Casemiro’s header and two goals from Bruno Fernandes. In the previous round’s return leg at Old Trafford they allowed a 2-0 advantage over Lyon to become a 4-2 deficit before scoring three goals in the final seven minutes of extra time to secure passage to the last four. United also led Lyon 2-1 in the first leg but conceded a 95th-minute Rayan Cherki equaliser.
Given such fallibility Amorim was asked which United will turn up on Thursday. “It is hard to say,” the manager replied. “Sometimes during the game we are one team, something happens and we lose our mind a little bit.
“If you look at our team we cannot say today what is going to happen. 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.”
Athletic will be without Nico and Iñaki Williams, who have both scored 11 goals this season, plus their top-scorer Oihan Sancet, who has 17, due to injury. “It doesn’t matter,” Amorim said of their injured players. “For us it is the top team of Athletic [who will play]. I understand it is hard to play without key players but for us it doesn’t matter. We need to go to the game and try to win it.”
Amorim reiterated that Bruno Fernandes is not for sale after Al-Hilal’s reported interest in United’s captain. “He is a top player, we need top players. He is a leader, he’s the captain, so he’s really important,” said the 40-year-old. “It’s normal that a lot of clubs want a player like Bruno, like [Alejandro] Garnacho, like others. But we want to keep the best players, and Bruno is clearly one of the top players in the world, so our idea didn’t change. We want Bruno here.”
United will consider offers for Garnacho, who the club value at around £70m, a potential fee that would represent 100% profit under profitability and sustainability rules. The 20-year-old forward is a target for Chelsea and Napoli and was asked if he sees himself at the club next season. “As a footballer you are always going to listen and hear some rumours about the future,” said Garnacho. “But I have a contract here until 2028, so I’m happy here.”
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Matthijs de Ligt is unavailable for Athletic’s visit, as well as West Ham’s in the Premier League on Sunday, due to a knee problem.
