Should Manchester United go on to retain the Barclays Premier League title this season, Sir Alex Ferguson may come to view his team’s exit from the Europa League and the subsequent easing of an otherwise congested fixture list as a sort of minor blessing.
In the longer term, though, the humbling and humiliation suffered en route to a second early elimination from Europe have exposed weaknesses at the heart of this team that cannot continue to go ignored if the manager is serious about challenging the supremacy of Barcelona again at the high table of European football.
At the San Mamés last night, that must have felt like a distant pipe dream as more holes were ripped in Ferguson’s claims that United sit not far below the dizzying heights occupied by the Spanish and European champions.
The reality is that United have just been comprehensively outclassed over two legs of a round-of-16 tie against an Athletic Bilbao team who are seventh in La Liga, an astonishing 33 points below Real Madrid, the leaders.
Just as not much should be read into Athletic’s misleading position in the Spanish top flight, so United supporters are unlikely to be fooled by a scoreline that served only to flatter their team. United were butchered in Bilbao, just as they were systematically undone in the first leg at Old Trafford a week earlier.
Advertisement
United have lost four of their ten games in Europe this season, compared to only three defeats in 28 matches in the Premier League. All manner of conclusions can be drawn from such statistics, but perhaps more than anything it raises questions about the calibre of England’s premier domestic competition. It is not even as though United have been unravelled by Europe’s leading lights, their defeat by Basle in the Champions League in December rendered all the more disconcerting by the 7-0 hammering the Swiss champions have just suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Whereas Athletic were a blur of movement — an intoxicating blend of craft and graft — United, other than in a brief period towards the end of the first half, were ponderous and panicked. By the time Wayne Rooney had pulled a goal back for United in the 80th minute, Athletic could and should have scored five or six.
Bilbao was described by one writer this month as “a throbbing industrial Glasgow to Barcelona’s well-heeled, sophisticated Edinburgh”, but much like Manchester, a once unyielding landscape has undergone a seismic transformation over the past decade and a half. The process of evolution has even included a new stadium, which will open next year, but until then Athletic’s fanatical Basque support can continue to savour the unforgiving San Mamés, a kind of Spanish Goodison Park with the volume ratcheted up several notches.
The intensity of the support was mirrored on the field by a team who held a high line, pressed the ball forward and played at near-breakneck pace. United’s two-man midfield had been consumed at Old Trafford, but even with three in the middle, they found the sublime Markel Susaeta, Oscar de Marcos and Iker Muniain almost impossible to contain, while Fernando Llorente proved once again why he is one of the Continent’s most coveted marksmen.
By the time United had steadied themselves enough to enjoy their one and only sustained spell of pressure towards the end of the first period, they were a goal down and needing to score three times to qualify. United pride themselves on their powers of recovery, but even given the significance of Sunday’s game away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, they did not look capable of mounting a fightback.
Advertisement
Ferguson bemoaned the “soft” nature of the goal but it was impossible not to marvel at the splendour of Llorente’s strike. There appeared no danger when Fernando Amorebieta collected the ball in the left-back position in his own half, but in the blink of an eye he had spotted Llorente beginning to make a run, and as the forward peeled off the shoulder of Rio Ferdinand, the centre half launched a raking 60-yard cross-field pass over the head of the United defender. Ferdinand completely lost track of the flight of the ball and as it dropped in front of Llorente, he demonstrated exquisite technique to volley across David De Gea. With only 40 minutes gone, Llorente exited after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring problem. It was some cameo.
Muniain had already hit a post before Athletic scored, but although United had some chances of their own, it spoke volumes for the poverty of much of their play that Gorka Iraizoz, the Athletic goalkeeper, barely had to lift a finger until he picked the ball out of the net when Rooney lashed home a 25-yard drive that drew applause from the home crowd. They know class when they see it.
Ryan Giggs had a header deflected over by Amorebieta and Tom Cleverley was denied a penalty when tripped by Susaeta, but United were routinely flummoxed, Patrice Evra enduring another nightmare against Susaeta and Andoni Iraola. De Marcos made it 2-0 when his shot deflected in off Chris Smalling, who had only partially cleared Iraola’s cross. Gaizka Toquero missed two glorious chances to extend Athletic’s lead and Iraola skipped past three defenders before steering a shot wide. United have plenty to ponder.
Click on the Match Centre tab above to read how the game unfolded and match stats
Athletic Bilbao (4-1-2-3): G Iraizoz — A Iraola, J Martínez, F Amorebieta, J Aurtenetxe — A Iturraspe – A Herrera (sub: I Perez, 82min), O de Marcos — M Susaeta, F Llorente (sub: G Toquero, 40), I Muniain (sub: M San José, 88). Substitutes not used: Raúl, D López, B Ekiza, I Gómez. Booked: Susaeta.
Advertisement
Manchester United (4-3-3): D De Gea — R Da Silva, J Evans, R Ferdinand (sub: C Smalling, 63), P Evra — T Cleverley, M Carrick (sub: P Pogba, 63), Park Ji Sung — A Young, W Rooney, R Giggs (sub: D Welbeck, 68). Substitutes not used: B Amos, J Hernández, F Da Silva, P Scholes. Booked: Rafael, Pogba.
Referee: C Cakir (Turkey).
Europa League last eight
Hanover, Valencia, Alkmaar, Athletic Bilbao, Metalist Kharkiv, Sporting Lisbon, Atlético Madrid, Schalke.
Advertisement
Quarter-final and semi-final draw takes place at noon today