Man United are holding a huge advantage to advance to the Europa League final after a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao away in the first leg.
It was a good and lucky match for the "Red Devils" when the home team lost a player very early. If he was luckier, Bruno Fernandes and his teammates could score a 4th or 5th goal, thereby being more certain about the ticket to the final match.
One of the notable points of M.U against Bilbao in the midweek match was the return of center back Matthijs de Ligt and striker Amad Diallo. De Ligt and Amad both came off the bench and played 25 and 6 minutes respectively. De Ligt returned for the first time in more than a month while Amad took 3 months to play. Both of them had quite good performances.
Both De Ligt and Amad attended the training session at Carrington before leaving for Spain to play in the first leg of the semi-final. Ruben Amorim himself was surprised by the timely recovery of these two pillars. If they continue to maintain stability, it is not surprising that De Ligt and Amad continue to appear in the second leg at Old Trafford.
To warm the legs of the two students, Amorim could let De Ligt and Amad play for a few minutes against Brentford this weekend. In terms of the ability to start, De Ligt is higher because Amad has just returned from a serious ankle injury, which needs to be kept in mind as the "Red Devils" are on the brink of reaching the Europa League final.
Under Amorim, Amad has made a strong progress when he was given the "number 10" position, instead of just being on the wing as before. When he lost the Ivorian star, Amorim used many players to fill this position. Even the midfield trio of Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte sometimes play as a true "number 10" to support the very poor attack.
In the context of Diogo Dalot being injured and not sure if he will be able to return if Man United reach the final, Amorim can consider a plan for Amad to play as a winger in the 4-man midfield instead of Mazraoui. When Amad plays in this position, he will provide more dangerous attacks targeting the opponent's defense.
If Amorim deploys this, the player below Amad could be Mazraoui. The Marquis has good speed, stable possession and better attack support than Leny Yoro. Amorim could also pick Yoro if he feels he is focused on breaking through this wing. The Portuguese coach will have a myriad of options when he has Amad in hand at his best form.
From now until the Europa League final, the door to the second leg of the semi-final at Old Trafford is still there. The three goals are too big a gap, but looking back at the second leg of the quarter-final against Lyon, anything could have happened. Man United once turned Lyon into a victim of a classic comeback, they did not want to become that version right at home.
