Manchester United lock horns with Athletic Bilbao in the semi-finals of the Europa League as they eye their route to the final.
The Red Devils face the La Liga side away in the first leg on Thursday evening. They then welcome their opponents to Old Trafford next week.
Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur play FK Bodø/Glimt in the other semi-final tie. Ruben Amorim’s men drew 1-1 away at AFC Bournemouth in their last Premier League outing. They are positioned in 14th place in the table with four fixtures left to play this season.
Where and when is the Europa League final as Manchester United eye final?
Bilbao will host the 2025 Europa League final. Therefore, if Athletic Bilbao see off United, they will be playing in their own stadium and city. San Mamés stadium has a capacity of 53,000.
The final takes place on Wednesday 21st May with a kick-off time of 20:00pm. The winners of the tournament will earn a place in the 2025/26 Champions League. They will also play against the winners of the current Champions League in the Super Cup.
Bilbao is located in the north of Spain and is the largest city in the Basque Country. It has a population of 345,821. That makes it the 10th largest city in the country.
Athletic Bilbao star Nico Williams has said it would be a ‘dream’ to win the trophy in their own ground so United will be looking to prevent that from happening. He has said: “The dream is to lift the cup in San Mames. We have a chance to make history in this club.”
What has Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said ahead of Athletic Bilbao clash?
United manager Amorim is expecting a tough battle against Athletic Bilbao. The Red Devils saw off Lyon in the last round in dramatic fashion. Their head coach has said: “I think they (Bilbao) have a lot of good things. I’m not going to talk about the bad things, but they are really strong as a team, they are really intense, they are really aggressive. Even for a Spanish team, they are really aggressive on every duel.
“They have great players one against one. Nico Williams is a special player. They are the best defence in Spain in the league and 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, 20-30 minutes especially, they are really strong and intense and use the crowd to take the game to a different level and we are prepared for that, so we are going to face a very strong team.”
He also said: “Everybody knows that it’s really important for our season. We know that nothing is going to save our season but this can be huge, winning a trophy. And also to get in the Champions League, to have European games next year, it could change a lot of things in our club, even in the summer.”
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