MANCHESTER: Manchester United will have to push hard to win the Europa League semi-final against Athletic Bilbao despite their 3-0 win in the first leg, manager Ruben Amorim said on Wednesday.

United are currently a lowly 15th in the 20-team Premier League table — and only scraped through to the last four of the Eur­opa League after a remarkable comeback against Olympique Lyonnais.

But they now have one foot in the final in Bilbao thanks to three first-half goals in the Spanish city last week ahead of Thursday’s return encounter at Old Trafford.

An all-English final is in prospect should Tottenham Hotspur defeat Bodo/Glimt, giving the sides presently 15th and 16th in the Premier League a chance to win a continental trophy, with the considerable added bonus of qualifying for the Champions League.

“If you look at our team, we cannot say today what is going to happen. There are some teams in any league that can understand the game is going to be like this and could change a little bit,” Amorim told reporters.

“We have to face the game as one more game. I feel we have to score to go to the next round. That is how we are going to approach the game. We will have to suffer a little bit to go to the final, and we are ready to suffer.”

Amorim said nothing will change if he wins the Europa League with the “worst” United team in Premier League history.

“In the end of this season, we can be the worst [United] team in Premier League history with a European title, so it will change nothing,” Amorim, who took charge of the fallen English giants after replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag in November, said. “We know that this season was really disappointing for everybody. Nothing is going to change.”

Athletic face a tough task, but United have lost 3-0 at Old Trafford three times so far this season and were beaten 4-3 at Brentford on Sunday.

Athletic boss Ernesto Valverde insisted his side still have a chance of a stunning victory despite the absence of four key players.

Dani Vivian is suspended after his first leg red card, while wingers Nico and Inaki Williams have been ruled out through injury, along with top scorer Oihan Sancet.

“There’s no point thinking about the ones who aren’t here. We know we’ve got some key injuries, but it’s about the ones who are on the field tomorrow,” Valverde said.

“They’re the ones who will be trying to turn this tie around. It’s not going to be easy. But this is football. Anything can happen.”

Tottenham hold a 3-1 first-leg lead against Bodo/Glimt and should they complete the job in Norway and United progress, it would mark the sixth all-English final in the Champions League or Europa League.

Spurs themselves have had a traumatic season in the Premier League — with an eye-catching 19 defeats in 35 games.

But Ange Postecoglou still has the chance to make good on his claim that he always wins a trophy in his second season at a club by collecting Tott­enham’s first silverware since 2008.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025