Athletic Club will “be ready to take advantage of any opportunity” against Manchester United, says Ernesto Valverde | OneFootball

Ernesto Valverde suggested that Athletic Club’s UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg against Manchester United is “the most important game of the season” for the Basque side.

The Zurigorri fell to a crushing 0-3 defeat at San Mamés last week and have a mountain to climb if they’re to overcome the deficit and qualify for this year’s Europa League final, which will be held at their home stadium in Bilbao.

“It’s complicated,” said the 61-year-old, who previously played for the club over a six-year spell in the 1990s. “The result is quite adverse and they’re a great opponent, but this is football – anything can happen, and we always hope for the best.”

Valverde hopes that Athletic Club can put in a good performance at Old Trafford, just as they did in the early stages in the Basque Country last week before Dani Vivian was dismissed for denying a goalscoring opportunity.

“With 11v11, we were closer to winning,” he explained during Wednesday’s pre-match press conference, “but they are a team that doesn’t forgive and we made mistakes. They’ve got great potential, and we hope to make fewer mistakes.”

“We’re really satisfied with how we’re tackling this competition. We know perfectly well that in these types of knockout games, everything can be decided by one play or one minute of inaccuracy so we’ll be ready to take advantage of any opportunity.”