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Ruben Amorim isn’t sure which Manchester United will turn up for the second leg of the Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford on Thursday, and admits that sometimes his team ‘lose our minds’.
Amorim is trying to guard against complacency after United took a commanding 3-0 lead in the first leg in Spain last week.
Having seen Lyon come from two goals down to lead 4-2 in the quarter-final at Old Trafford before Harry Maguire headed an injury-time winner, the United boss isn’t taking anything for granted.
‘If you look at our team, we cannot say today what is going to happen,’ said Amorim, whose side also conceded four at Brentford on Sunday.
‘Some teams, the story is going to be like this and control the narrative – we cannot do that.
Ruben Amorim feels Man United will need to score to progress in the Europa League semis
Amorim leads United in training on Wednesday ahead of their Europa semi-final second leg
‘I feel we need to score to go to the next round. Then we use Brentford, we are near a draw then we suffer a goal and another one.
‘We will have to suffer a bit to go to the final, and we are ready to suffer. Sometimes during the game we are one team and then we lose our mind a little bit.
‘If you look at our season, anything is possible. We have to understand one goal can change anything: the momentum of the game, one sending-off, you saw it a week ago. We are fighting to win the game. We are thinking about winning the game.’
United racked up their 16th defeat of the league season, their most for 35 years, at Brentford at the weekend. But they could qualify for the Champions League if they win the Europa League.
Amorim added: ‘For me, in that moment and you look at Premier League, we are the worst team since I arrived in terms of results. That is my idea. In the end of the season, we can be the worst team in Premier League history with a European title.
So we will not change anything. We know that this season was disappointing.
‘Nothing is going to change, in that moment I have to think a bit more but I felt that. I still feel that this season was the worst in the last 50 years.’
Bilbao had Dani Vivian sent off at the San Mames before Bruno Fernandes increased United’s lead from the penalty spot as the balance of the tie swung firmly in their favour.
Asked if he has watched the game back, Amorim added: ‘I watched the first 30 minutes and I forget the rest because you cannot prepare the game 11 against 10. I felt that again they were really intense, but most of the opportunities were our fault. We lost the possession, it is hard to find some space.’
Bilbao will be without wingers Nico and Inaki Williams, but Amorim still believes the Basques will pose a serious threat.
‘It doesn’t matter. For us it is the top team of Athletic. 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.’
