Star Metro - Amorim eyes European glory with 'worst' Man Utd team in Premier League history

United are currently a lowly 15th in the 20-team table -- and only scraped through to the last four of the Europa League after a remarkable comeback against Lyon.

But they now have one foot in the final after a 3-0 semi-final first leg win against Athletic Bilbao last week ahead of Thursday's return encounter at Old Trafford.

An all-English final is in prospect should Tottenham Hotspur defeat Bodo/Glimt, giving the sides presently 15th and 16th in the Premier League a chance to win a continental trophy, with the considerable added bonus of qualifying for the Champions League.

"In the end of this season, we can be the worst (United) team in Premier League history with a European title, so it will change nothing," Amorim told a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.

"We know that this season was really disappointing for everybody. Nothing is going to change," added United manager Amorim, who took charge of the fallen English giants after replacing the sacked Erik ten Hag in November.

- 'Lose our mind' -

United may be well-placed but Amorim believes they must guard against their tendency to "lose our mind a little bit" if they are to reach a final that will be played at Bilbao's San Mames ground on May 21.

Casemiro's header and two goals from skipper Bruno Fernandes in Bilbao put them in a strong position in Spain, with the hosts reduced to 10 men following Dani Vivian's red card.

All 133 teams in the competition's history to have scored three or more goals away from home in the first leg have gone through.

But Amorim is taking nothing for granted and believes United must score at least one more goal to book their place in the final.

"If you look at our season, anything is possible, so we have to understand one goal can change anything, the momentum of the game," he said.

"One sending off, you saw it a week ago, so we are prepared to fight to win the game not thinking about the result.

"Of course that matters and the way we are going to do things, especially when we start the game, but of course we are thinking about winning the game."

Athletic face a tough task, but United have lost 3-0 at Old Trafford three times so far this season and were beaten 4-3 at Brentford last weekend.

"We have to face the game (against Bilbao) as one more game," said Portuguese coach Amorim. "I feel that we need to score to go to the next round, so that is clearly the way we are going to face the game.

"Brentford, we are near the draw, but we suffer a goal and another one quite fast. That can happen.

"That happened four times here in Manchester United, so we will have to suffer a little bit to go to the final. We are ready to suffer and we need to be better in the small details."

Amorim, asked if he knew which face United would show on Thursday, replied: "It's hard to say, and sometimes it’s not what kind of team we will be tomorrow."

He added: "Sometimes even during the game we are one team, something happens and we lose our mind a little bit. But we are improving the way we play, we are more confident and we are ready to face this challenge."

A.Bergeron--SMC