Rúben Amorim has confirmed that both Amad and Matthjis de Ligt will be in Manchester United’s matchday squad when they face Athletic Club on Thursday evening.
Manchester United have touched down in Bilbao ahead of Thursday afternoon’s Europa League semi-final first leg against Athletic Club — a huge test for Rúben Amorim in what could be a season-defining tie.
United reached the last four with a dramatic comeback win over Olympique Lyonnais, turning the tie on its head at Old Trafford with three goals in seven minutes from Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, and Harry Maguire to seal a 7-6 aggregate victory.
Since then, their league form has dipped, with a 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers followed by a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, where Rasmus Højlund rescued a point deep into stoppage time.
But with preparations now complete and the squad settled in Spain, all eyes are on San Mamés as United look to lay down a marker in the first leg and take control of the semi-final.
Amorim confirms Amad status vs Athletic Club
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, it was confirmed that Amad and Matthijs de Ligt had travelled to Spain as part of the 26-man squad to face the Bilbao side. However, Amorim will only be able to select 23 of these players on Thursday evening.
Speaking to the press on Wednesday evening from Spain, Amorim confirmed that although neither are fit to start, both will be on the bench when the line-ups are announced.
“To start, no, but they can be in the squad for the game,” he explained to reporters. “The rest of the players, we have the game tomorrow and we train here on Friday.
“We need to prepare for the next game against Brentford. We have brought young kids to prepare for the next game.”
Meanwhile, multiple others such as Ayden Heaven, Diogo Dalot, and Toby Collyer did not travel due to injury, with the latter spotted doing individual work on Wednesday morning at Carrington.
Joshua Zirkzee and Lisandro Martínez remain out for the season, while Altay Bayındır has also returned to the squad after missing the last few fixtures through an unspecified injury.
Bilbao suffer major injury blow
Meanwhile, Amorim’s opponents have suffered a setback ahead of the clash, with Spanish midfielder Oihan Sancet ruled out due to a hamstring injury that will keep him sidelined for two to three weeks.
Sancet will miss the first leg at the Estadio de San Mamés and remains a doubt for the return fixture at Old Trafford.
He’s been a key attacking outlet this season, scoring 15 of Bilbao’s 50 league goals in just 25 appearances, and will be sorely missed by Ernesto Valverde and his squad.
Despite his absence, Bilbao will take encouragement from their defensive strength — they’ve conceded only 26 goals in 33 La Liga matches, the best record in the division, while having notched 50 at the other end of the field.
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