Manchester United manager, Ruben Amorim has said that Athletic Club will be a difficult opponent for the club in the Europa League.
MUFC are set to face the Spanish team in the semifinal first-leg today with a place in next month’s final crucial for the Red Devils’ hope of qualifying for UCL football next season.
The Portuguese coach revealed that with Athletic Club having an impressive defensive record in La Liga, it will definitely be a tough match for his players since MUFC is not scoring too many goals.
Amorim added that he expects intense football from the Spanish team in the 20 or 30 minutes because they are known for using their home crowd to raise their game while intimidating opponents.
“They are the best defence in Spain in the league.
We are not scoring too many goals, so it’s going to be a tough match for us.
We know that in the beginning of the game, 20 or 30 minutes especially, they are really strong, really intense.
They use the crowd to take the game to a different level. We are prepared for that, so we are going to face a very strong team,” he said.
Amorim also revealed that it is very obvious that nothing can save Manchester United’s poor season at this point because the club’s domestic form has simply been a disaster before and after he took charge.
According to him, however, while there is no saving the present campaign after lots of unacceptable results and performances in the EPL, winning the UEL and qualifying for the UCL can still be a huge achievement for the club and its fans.
He believes playing in Europe could go a long way towards transforming the club next season as it would give MUFC more money to spend during the transfer window, and ensure quality players find Old Trafford attractive enough to further their careers with.
“We know nothing is going to save our season but this can be huge.
Winning a trophy, getting in the Champions League to play European games next year could change a lot of things in our club in the summer.
We need to change a lot of things and we need to be consistent.
Europa League will not change anything in our problems. It’s going to give us Champions League next year, more money to spend, but the problems are still there.
We have to change the minds of our fans with consistency, good decisions, good recruitment, good academy.
This is what we need to change to take our club back to the top. This is more of a shortcut to go to the European games. Nothing more.
The problems we need to solve in a different way with more time and we’re really clear on that,” he added.
