Manchester United have received a welcome boost from an unfortunate source as Athletic Club’s key player, Oihan Sancet, is set to miss this week’s season-defining Europa League semi-final with a muscular injury.
The Red Devils travel to Bilbao to play Athletic in the first leg at the Estadio de San Mamés with victory in Europe offering the last chance to salvage success in an otherwise dismal season for Ruben Amorim’s side.
Athletic are currently fourth in La Liga with the Basque side closing in on Champions League qualification after an impressive season.
United, by contrast, are currently languished in 14th in the Premier League table with entry into Europe next season a hope which died many months ago.
However, winning the Europa League offers an alternative route into the Champions League with victory in Bilba – where the final will be played on May 21 – providing automatic qualification into Europe’s elite competition.
The enormous array of economic benefits this would provide cannot be understated at a time when the financial situation at Old Trafford is fraught but with a desperate need for a comprehensive overhaul of Amorim’s first-team squad.
The other side of the draw sees Premier League rival Tottenham Hotspur face off against Norway’s Bodo/Glimt, who United defeated 3-2 in the group stage of the competition.
But the Reds will first need to traverse the tricky task of an in-form Athletic, despite their own dreadful performances in recent months. The Spanish press have even gone as far as predicting an easy fixture for Athletic, describing United as “not much of a threat” given their propensity for chaos, evidenced by the quarter-final tie against Lyon.
Ernesto Valvere’s side will be forced to overcome their English rivals without their top scorer as Sancet has been ruled out of Thursday night with a muscular injury after being forced off the pitch against Las Palmas in a Liga game last week.
Initially, Athletic officials had been hopeful Sancet, who has scored 17 goals for Los Leones this season (six more than anyone else), had only suffered a “mild” issue but a timeline of “two to three weeks” has now been confirmed due to a hamstring injury, Spanish newspaper El Correo reports (as relayed by Sports Witness).
Sancet will definitely the first leg in Bilbao but is also a major doubt for next week’s reverse fixture at Old Trafford.
With the Red Devils’ form in such dire straits and the complete dependence on success in the Europa League to save this season, as well as provide the tools to strengthen ahead of next year’s campaign, any blow for their opponents is a welcome boost for United.
Feature image Alex Caparros via Getty Images
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Darragh Fox
Darragh is a writer for The Peoples Person who spent three years as a history graduate slowly realising football was by far the most interesting thing to write about.
