Europa League Match Preview: Manchester United vs Athletic Bilbao

Manchester United face Athletic Bilbao in the first leg of Round of 16 at Old Trafford.

Man. Utd. vs Athletic Bilbao

Date, Venue: Thursday 8 March 2012, 20:05 GMT (NEPAL Standard Time: Friday, March 09, 2012 1:50:00 AM) at Old Trafford

Having defeated Tottenham without dominate the game, Manchester United have another tough game in their hands. Athletic Bilbao can't be discounted as an easy opponent as they have a very decent squad.

But United will be pretty confident as they have been able to salvage a possible of 10 points out of 12 against the opponents of likes of: Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham.

Though, United aren't playing Europa League out of choice, rather compulsion, there is an incentive of adding Europa League to the Trophy Cabinet of Manchester United which doesn't include this trophy. Therefore, Manchester United might look up to Europa League more seriously than they would otherwise.

Team News

There are some good news on the injury front for Manchester United as well. Chris Smalling will most probably be back for this game. Antonio Valencia and Tom Cleverly are getting better with their fitness but this game might come a little bit too soon for the. Whereas, Athletic Bilbao are expected to travel with a full squad, with long-term absentees  Carlos Gurpegui, Aitor Ocio, and Xabier Castillo all missing due to long-term injuries.

Prediction

On paper, Manchester United are undoubtedly the better team, but matches are won on field and not paper. Thus, United will have to play with full concentration in order to register a victory against Bilbao. The defense needs to function well as the downfall of English clubs in Europe this year has been caused due to lackluster defending. Man. Utd. certainly have the home advantage in the first leg which they will try to use in their advantage as much as possible. 

That said, I still fancy Manchester United to win by 2-0 if they keep their concentration levels high.

And don't forget to post your predictions below. You don't even need to have a google account. But please do leave your Name with your comments as well.

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Sorry to everyone for lack of updates for quite some time!

I have to say we are very sorry that we couldn't update this blog for quite sometime. But from now on we will try our utmost best to update regularly. We would like to ask an apology for any kind of inconvenience that might have been caused due to lack of regular update.

GGMU!

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Paul Pogba signs £20k four year deal with Juventus

Paul Pogba was being touted as future of Manchester United

Paul Pogba has signed a £20k four year deal with Juventus according to dailymail. The source has also revealed that his agent: Mino Raiola will earn £1.7 million as a commission.

This  certainly will be a huge blow to Man Utd. as Ravel Morrison recently joined West Ham from United. Paul Pogba and Rave Morrison were being touted by Man. Utd. as future of the club. But seeing the departure of both the players Sir Alex must really be frustrated.

In the wake of this deal, Pogba was forced out of United reserve team that lost 1-0 against West Brom.

Man Utd. will be receiving training compensation as per the rules of FIFA.

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Manchester City 2 - 3 Manchester United

Wayne Rooney, United's talisman, scored twice as Manchester United were victorious on the FA cup derby, Third Round, at the Etihad Stadium, which was a great game of football that saw City's Vincent Company sent off early in the game.

The Red Devils had a reorganized defense where Rio ferdinand was partnered by Chris Smalling in central defence while Phil Jones was moved to Right Back. Meanwhile, Patrice Evra was at Left Back. Paul Scholes was on the bench after he made a sensational return from retirement as per the request of his Manager. Rooney and Welbeck started up front while Veteran midfielder Ryan Giggs and Michael Carrick handled the Central Midfield with Nani and Valencia on the wings.

For Man City, Costel Pantilimon was at goal in the place of the injured Joe Hart. Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko missed out while Gareth Barry served a one match ban while both Yaya and Kolo Toure reported for international duty.

In the 10th minute, United took the lead with an excellent header from Rooney. Antonio Valencia delievered a cross for Rooney who powered home a superb header off the underside of the bar. City were given a big blow as Vincent Company was sent off for a challenge on Luis Nani. After 30 minutes of play, United extended their lead to 2-0 with a brilliant volley from Welbeck, his seventh of the season. Things got worse for city as they conceded a penalty six minutes before half time when Kolarov brought down Welbeck. Costel Pantiliman saved Rooney's spot-kick but couldn't deny the united's talisman from scoring a header afterwards making the save.

At one stage, it seemed United were on course to thrash their opponents by a exact way they were beaten earlier in the season. But, City pulled a surprising fight back from 10 men as they scored 2 goals in second half. Evra was booked for fouling Richards outside the area and Kolarov scored a bending free kick past Lindegaard. Just after an hour, Scholes came off the bench to make 677th appearance as he replaced Nani. City got their second after 65 minutes when Aguero's initial shot was spilled by Lindegaard but the striker pounced to score. Scholes almost scored with his trade mark long range shot after 71 minutes but Pantilimon saved comfortably. City brought on former United midfielder Owen Hargreaves as they pressed for the equalizer. Kolarov tested Lindegaard with a free kick in injury time but the united defense held firm and did enough to keep the score as it was, in their favour.

As the final whistle blew, Man United knocked out the holders on their own patch to progress to the fourth round of the FA Cup.

The sparkling first half performance was enough for Man United to triumph over their noisy neighbors.

The victory and the return of Paul Scholes will certainly act as a morale booster in the upcoming games for the red devils after losing two matches in a row which many believe they should have done better. Manchester United have always proven they are the real kings of football in the world as they always respond to any failures. And today, this case was no different.

These are the happy times at the red side of Manchester and Misery for the blue side.

Glory Glory Manchester United............................................

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A Defeat To Start The Year

'Manchester will score, always scores', but it was not so in yesterday's match. While the United Keeper, Lindegaard was getting all clean sheets in all his starting league matches, it was turn for Red Devil's forward to get a clean sheet for not putting a goal behind Newcastle's net.

United were all over the field once again this season due to some tight defending and exquisite attacks, particularly by Ba, castle's new knight. The misery of United defeat continued from 2012 eve to 2012 from the opposition final score being 3.

The defeat leaves the visitors three points adrift of Premier League leaders Manchester City after their win on Tuesday night.

Ba's 33rd-minute opener came through Tim Krul's free-kick flicked on by Shola Ameobi for Ba to superbly hook home from 16 yards.

And two minutes into the second half, Cabaye added a second with a wonderful 30-yard free-kick that bounced off the underside of the bar and over the line.

The Reds tries to pressure and have a goal, but it was not Devil's night. All the passes and tactic were going wrong for Sir Alex and United.

Rooney, Nani, Berbatov, Giggs, Park and other devils seemed helpless to some mystical play of Newcastle United.

And to round off a dreadful night for Sir Alex Ferguson's side, Phil Jones put through his own net after another long punt up field by Krul hit him on the leg and wrongfooted Anders Lindegaard.

There's now huge load of work for Sir Alex and for his team to cope with in this year, if they want to be the champions once again as last season.

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