Three goals in 15 minutes sealed a stunning victory for Man United in Bilbao, where Harry Maguire was immense once more.
Harry Maguire has conceded Manchester United were “a mess” earlier in the season and the players did not adapt well enough to a change of manager.
United have lost a Premier League-era record 15 games, are 14th in the table with a -8 goal difference and have four games remaining. Yet they are two games away from more silverware, having triumphed 3-0 away to Athletic Bilbao in their Europa League semi-final first leg.
Ruben Amorim took over as Erik ten Hag’s replacement in November and United have struggled to master his 3-4-2-1 system in domestic competitions. United have lost 11 of Amorim’s 23 league games in charge.
Yet United remain the only unbeaten team in the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. They have plundered 15 goals in five knockout ties and the unexpected victory in Bilbao arguably marked a high point for the season.
Amorim and Manuel Ugarte stressed that Europa League glory would not “save the season” at United’s pre-match press conference and Maguire agreed.
“It wouldn’t save the season because I think it’s been disappointing,” Maguire said. “There’s been too many games that we’ve lost, far too inconsistent.
“It’s been a bit of a mess in the middle of the season, the transition period we didn’t handle it well enough, us players. We didn’t take the responsibility well enough from moving manager to manager and we took too long in embedding into new ideas.
“It’s been a difficult season, it’s been a disappointing season but of course, football is about memories, it’s about creating memories, it’s about winning trophies and we have a great opportunity to win a trophy. For our fans, that’s what they deserve, so that’s the most important thing.”
Maguire has emerged as one of United’s most important players under Amorim and he played a crucial role in their first goal in Bilbao, whipping in a cross that was flicked on by Ugarte and steered in by Casemiro.
Figures at United have noticed Maguire has become a more confident speaker without the captain’s armband and his four goals this term are his-joint best for the club. He still maintains his strongest campaigns were his first.
“No, I wouldn’t say it’s my best season at the club if I’m being honest,” he added. “The first two seasons (2019-20 and 2020-21) coming into a team that finished seventh. I think we kept the most clean sheets in Europe, finished third. The second season, again I think we were second most in Europe, finished second.
“So I think that’s my two best seasons at the club, form-wise. Although I must say the big moments this year for sure have been a lot better than previous seasons.”
Maguire approved of the ‘Harrydinho’ nickname he received following his skilful wing play (“I’ve always got nicknames. I’m happy with that one, that’ll do.”). The 32-year-old has never started in a final for United, having missed the 2021 Europa League and 2024 FA Cup finals through injury. He came on in the 88th minute in the 2023 League Cup final win over Newcastle and was an unused substitute months later in the FA Cup loss to Manchester City.
United are widely expected to be back in Bilbao for the Europa League final on May 21 but Maguire wants them to treat the second leg as a reset of the tie, rather than holding onto their 3-0 aggregate advantage.
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position,” Maguire enthused. “There’s no doubt about it, coming here and winning 3-0. It’s a great position.
“I think everyone expects us to be in the final. So we’ve just got to prepare well. We’ve got to prepare like it’s a game at 0-0 and go into the game and be aggressive and play on the front foot. We’ll be going into that game next Thursday to win the game. And that’s the mentality we must have because we’re at Old Trafford and playing at Old Trafford demands winning football matches.
“I think there’s every scenario that can happen in a game. We know that they could score first, but we’ve got to remain calm. The first 20 minutes out there tonight were intense.
“We’ve got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments. I think Case was brilliant tonight, Bruno as well. So we have senior players who need to handle these moments really well.
“And like I said, we’ll be going into next Thursday and trying to get the win and moving to the final.”
