12 crazy stats from Man Utd’s unbelievable 3-0 victory away to Athletic Bilbao

Manchester United have one foot in the Europa League final after coming away from Bilbao with an unlikely 3-0 victory over Athletic Club.

With what’s surely Ruben Amorim’s biggest win as Manchester United boss so far, the Red Devils are within grasp of salvaging something big – silverware, and with it Champions League qualification – from what’s otherwise been by a distance their worst campaign of the modern era.

With Tottenham winning the first leg of their own semi-final, we could genuinely witness the prospect of the Premier League’s 16th and 17th-placed teams meeting in a major European final come the San Mames final on May 17th.

Athletic had come into the contest as heavy favourites, given their formidable home form and the fact that they’re riding high – 4th – in the La Liga table. But having made it all the way to the semi-finals, their dreams of contesting the Europa League final on their own patch has been left in tatters.

The hosts had actually made a strong start, creating chances and putting Amorim’s men under pressure. But Alejandro Garnacho’s early goal, disallowed for offside, was an early warning of the threat the visitors posed.

Harry Maguire did exceptionally well, cropping up on the wing, in the build-up to Casemiro’s headed opener. From there, Athletic Bilbao collapsed. United doubled their advantage in the 37th minute after Bruno Fernandes converted from the penalty spot after VAR intervened.

Dani Vivian was also shown a red card for the incident, having been judged to have pulled back Rasmus Hojlund.

And shortly before half-time, Fernandes put United into a commanding three-goal lead in the tie after a deft backheel flick from Manuel Ugarte in the build-up.

The second half passed relatively serenely for United as they sat on their comfortable advantage. You’d imagine not even they can squander it when they take the Basque outfit back to Old Trafford for next week’s second leg.

We’ve collected 12 unbelievable stats from Manchester United’s big win.

— Manchester United notched 14 shots to the hosts’ nine and seven on target to their three. They registered 72.4% possession and 558 accurate passes to Athletic’s 160.

— They remain the only side unbeaten in all three UEFA competitions this season. They’ve won eight and drawn five of their 13 outings in the Europa League.

— While some matches have been knockouts, their points-per-match average in the Europa League matches stands at 2.23. That’s almost twice as good as their Premier League points per game average of 1.14.

— United have scored more goals in Europa League matches in 2025 (19) than they have in the Premier League (18) – despite playing more than double as many matches (15 to seven) in the latter competition.

— Opta gave Athletic Club a 48.8% chance of a victory at San Mames, and Ruben Amorim’s just 25.5% in their pre-match prediction simulation.

— Victor Lindelof completed 95 passes for United. That’s 73 more than Athletic’s top passer, Yaray Alvarez on 22.

— Ernesto Valverde’s side have lost just one of their 17 La Liga outings on home soil this season. Only Atletico Madrid and Osasuna have won away in Bilbao (all competitions) since their 0-2 defeat at home to Real Madrid at the start of last season.

— Across 23 matches on home soil in La Liga and the Europa League this season, Athletic Bilbao had conceded just 12 goals. United scored three in 45 minutes.

— No player in Europa League history has registered more goal contributions (19 goals, 12 assists) in knockout stage matches than Bruno Fernandes. The Manchester United captain has notched 31 from just 32 knockout games.

— Mohamed Salah is the only Premier League player to have notched more goal contributions than Fernandes (35 – 19 goals, 16 assists) in all competitions in 2024-25.

— Given Spurs’ 3-1 victory over Bodo/Glimt, the overwhelming odds are that it’ll be an all-Premier League Europa League final. Only once before in Manchester United’s history (the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea) have they faced a fellow English club in a European final.

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