Manchester United – Athletic Bilbao: Europa League Prediction (09.05.2025)

On May 9, 2025 at 01:00 WIB, the second leg of the Europa League semifinal between Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao will take place. Bookmakers give a slight advantage to the home side. However, the visitors’ chances of reaching the final are very small. The “Red Devils” secured a very comfortable advantage in the first leg. Let’s see what to expect from both teams in the upcoming match, and give our prediction for the game.

MANCHESTER UNITED
The comeback against Lyon in the quarterfinals inspired Manchester United, and the team started the semifinal actively. Although the opponent looked better in the first 30 minutes, the “Red Devils” were sharper and opened the scoring in the 30th minute. Five minutes later, Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty, and Vivian’s red card became the turning point – Manchester United had already secured a big lead before halftime.

After a confident 3-goal home win, the Mancunians can play more calmly. Moreover, in the last Premier League match, they fielded reserves, focusing on the Europa League second leg.

ATHLETIC BILBAO
The Basques are traditionally strong at home. However, in the previous match against Manchester United, things went wrong. The team started actively but conceded two goals in five minutes, and the red card significantly demoralized the players. Playing with ten men, Athletic clearly struggled. The “Los Leones” were even lucky to escape with a 0-3 loss, as the crossbar saved them twice.

Ernesto Valverde stated before the second leg that despite the score, his team will not give up and will try to fight back in the return match. However, to revive the intrigue in the tie, the Basques will have to take risks from the very first minutes.

STATISTICS AND HEAD-TO-HEAD
Last week, Manchester United defeated Athletic Bilbao for the first time. Previously, the Basques had won twice and drawn once. Other interesting statistical facts:

• Manchester United have not lost a single match in this season’s Europa League;
• the “Red Devils” have lost only 1 of their last 10 matches against Spanish teams;
• only 1 of Manchester United’s last 64 European matches ended without a goal;
• Bruno Fernandes is the top scorer of this season’s Europa League and has moved into third place on the all-time scoring list of the tournament.

PREDICTION
In the Manchester United – Athletic Bilbao match, we predict a productive game. The visitors will have to take risks to try to come back. This will lead to many chances at both ends. Therefore, a bet on total over 2.5 goals at odds of 1.90 looks interesting.