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Manchester United will look to make their progress to the Europa League final certain when they host Athletic Bilbao in the second leg of their semi-final tie.

The Red Devils put themselves in a commanding position in this tie after taking a 3-0 lead in the first leg. Helped by the fact that Bilbao was reduced to ten men, Ruben Amorim’s side continued their fine form in this competition, as they have remained unbeaten (W8, D5), amid a terrible return of points domestically.

That poor domestic form was once again evident at the weekend, as they were beaten 4-3 by Brentford to leave them a long distance away from the Premier League European spots.

However, despite their domestic form, they will be confident of getting the result needed to book a place in the final, given that they boast a 100% progression record on the 20 previous occasions they’ve won the away first leg in a European knockout tie.

Athletic Bilbao have a huge task on their hands trying to overturn the three-goal deficit. The visitors were unable to live up to the expectations of a vociferous home crowd last Thursday and were then held to a 0-0 draw at Basque rivals Real Sociedad at the weekend.

Even more ominous is that Ernesto Valverde’s men travel to Manchester having failed to win their last three Europa League away matches (D1, L2). They’ve also lost seven of their previous nine away matches against English opposition (W1, D1).

But interestingly, the one victory in that sequence came on this ground in the Europa League en route to the final back in 2012. However, a more realistic target may perhaps be avoiding losing both legs of a European knockout tie for just the third time ever.

That’s perhaps as good as it’ll get for them, considering that only once before, across all major European competitions, has a side lost the first leg at home by 3+ goals and progressed to the next round.