Anything is possible with football and particularly with this chaotic and unpredictable United side.
After that unexpected but definitely welcome 3-0 triumph in Bilbao last week, Ruben's Reds do have the advantage of making it to Bilbao again as that is where the final will be held.
Goals by Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes (x2) gave Amorim this massive lead with many thinking United are already in the final. However, I wouldn't be booking my ticket to Spain just yet.
Predicted Lineup
With so many being rested and rotated in Sunday's defeat to Brentford, it should be no surprises to see certain names back in the side.
Amorim confirmed that De Ligt will miss this match (and the next one) which means that we will probably see the same back three that played in bilbao: Yoro, Maguire and Lindelof.
While Mazraoui missed the league defeat to Brentford, he was seen in training yesterday which means that he is should be fit to start. He comes in at RWB with Dorgu moving back to the left.
Casemiro and Ugarte to stay in midfield. It was surprising to see the Uruguayan play the full 90 last Sunday ahead of this second leg given his importance to the team and partnership he's developed with Casemiro. I do still think the manager will start him though.
Skipper Fernandes to return as no 10 and Garnacho to keep his place next to him. He was another I was surprised to see start let alone play the whole at Brentford. As he is quite fit and a youngster besides, Garnacho should be ready to start just four days later.
Hojlund like Casemiro and Bruno didn't feature at all in the last match as Chido Obi took his place as striker. Rasmus did have a decent game in Bilbao and was involved in perhaps the decision that could potentially see us through with that red card.
Let's hope for another good performance by him and the rest of the team.
Approach
All the onus is on Bilbao. At 3-0 down, they really have to go for it from the off. This will allow United to do something they are more comfortable with of playing defend and counter football.
We've seen that even under Amorim and his new formation and tactics, our players are just more at home when they play on the break.
Defensively, with the likes of Maguire, Yoro, Mazraoui, De Ligt and Martinez (whenever these players have played), our back line is quite strong. It's odd to say this considering the amount of goals we concede and the type of goals yet I feel pretty confident with our defense in general.
They did keep a clean sheet in Spain after all 🤷♂️.
The midfield of Casemiro and Ugarte is quite defensive as both players are holding midfielders. It's not the most attacking however, with the way they've been playing, you cannot drop them and despite their more defensive nature, both have been a threat going forward.
Casemiro scored in that 3-0 win last week and picked up 3 assists in the previous game against Lyon. Ugarte has been even better as he has 4 assists and 1 goal in his last five including 2 assists against Bilbao. They've performing better than our forwards!
They are also very solid as a defensive duo so that is a positive as well. Casemiro had one of his best games last week.
As for that forward line, it includes Europa League joint-top scorer Bruno Fernandes. The United captain has 7 strikes to his name 2 of which was in the 3-0 win.
The magnifico is ever influential in this side and almost always has some involvement with our attacks. With Bilbao having to open up all game, someone like Fernandes is super deadly in such games.
With time and space, he will find that killer pass and with the pace of both Garnacho and Hojlund, United will be a threat on the counter. Whether they can actually finish the move off is another matter though.
Garnacho despite his goal and assist against Brentford, isn't a player who is known to be a team player. The star boy is very selfish and is often frustrating due to poor quality and decision-making in the final third.
Hojlund is a player who is struggling even though he too was influential in the last couple of games with a goal against Bournemouth and the penalty assist in Spain.
If they get it right however, there is no reason as to why we cannot be creating chances and scoring goals.
Speaking of scoring, Ruben's Reds are the competition's top scorers with 31, 2 more than Lyon in second. Interestingly, our opponents sit on 21 goals.
The issue with last week's win was that United didn't add to their tally in the second half as we faced 10 men for the entire 45. 3-0 was still an unexpected score line and one that we'll all gladly take but we also can't help but think that we should've gone for the kill and looked to have put the tie to bed in Spain.
3-0 does give you a healthy advantage but it isn't a score line that's impossible to overturn. We were 2-0 up against Lyon before they took a 4-2 lead (2 goals of which came with 10 men) before we had to rescue the season dramatically.
Something that would put me at ease is if we score an early goal or 2. In the first 15-20, if United manage to be a goal up, I would be more confident of going through. We definitely must not concede in this time and hopefully we don't have any sending offs as well.
Form
That 3-0 win meant we kept our record of being the only undefeated side in all of Europe. We are also free scoring in the Europa as those 31 netted is just 11 fewer than we've managed in the league in 22 fewer matches.
Nearly half of these 31 (15) have come in the five knockout stage matches. Goal scoring in this competition is not a problem.
I don't understand either.
While this is all well and good, United do have the issue of not keeping clean sheets. In 13 matches, there's been just the three shut outs which isn't something that will please Amorim. Only one of those came at Old Trafford which was the 2-0 win over PAOK.
However, one of those clean sheets was in last week's first leg so that's something at least.
Athletic Club
Some not so good news coming out of the Bilbao camp as three key players in Nico and Inaki Williams and Oihan Sancet are all NOT in the squad for the trip to Old Trafford.
That is a massive blow for Ernesto Valverde and a major boost for United as all three of these players would've given the Spaniards greater hopes of reaching the final.
On top of that, much like United, Bilbao failed to win their lastest league game as they drew 0-0 at Real Sociedad. They were without Nico Williams and Sancet for that one too. I thought it was because they were being rested ahead of this second leg.
That draw doesn't help them in their bid to play in the Champions League via qualifying through La Liga as that draw coupled with Real Betis' win, means that Betis are now just 4 points behind them in 6th with Villarreal 3 behind in 5th despite their 3-0 loss.
Does this mean that Valverde is perhaps looking to focus a little more on winning the Europa League? If so, that would make this game all the more interesting.
When looking at them throughout the tournament, Bilbao have been quite strong defensively even in the league but their issues come when going in the other direction.
Their 13 matches have yielded just 21 goals which is 10 fewer than United. Away from home, they've netted just 7 in five matches with the most they've managed in one game being 3 meaning that Athletic Club will have to do something they haven't done all season and score 4 or more to hope to get through. This will be without their three most influential players as well.
On the road, they have an even record of two draws, two wins and two losses.
The last time they traveled to Old Trafford though, Bilbao did get a famous 3-2 victory in 2012 which may give them some encouragement ahead of tonight even if that scoreline may not be enough to get them to the final.
Prediction
What do I think will happen then?
I can see United messing up big time. We tend to do this out of nowhere and shoot ourselves in the foot. I wouldn't be surprised if we were to go out because you simply cannot trust us.
I do however, feel more confident knowing that Bilbao will be without the Williams brothers and Sancet and that we have some players of our own coming back. We're also at home and we are undefeated in this competition.
United also do always have a couple of goals in them so if we do score, we should be through.
I'm going for a 2-2 draw.
Whatever happens though, just don't. Cock. Up.
Andoni Gorosabel: Image via Athletic Club official X (@Athletic_en)
Casemiro had 3 assists in Man Utd's epic 5-4 win over Lyon | Casemiro: Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)