Sir Alex Ferguson has told his Man Utd team to snap out of their European slumber when Athletic Bilbao visit Old Trafford on Thursday.
Man Utd boss wary of threat posed by Athletic Bilbao
Sir Alex Ferguson has told his Manchester United team to snap out of their European slumber when Athletic Bilbao visit Old Trafford on Thursday.
United have not performed to their usual standard at home in Europe this season and surprisingly slipped out of the UEFA Champions League at the group stage.
They managed to overcome Ajax in the last 32 of the Europa League despite losing the second leg 2-1 at Old Trafford, and Ferguson does not want to repeat the same mistakes against Bilbao.
He is wary of the threat posed by a side riding high in the Primera Liga and hopes to establish a lead to take to Spain for next week's second leg.
"It's a very difficult tie," Ferguson said on United's
official website. "All the work Bilbao have done has been very impressive.
"They're a very progressive team in Spain at the moment and it's going to be very difficult for us.
"We need to wake up, there's no question about that. Some of our European form has been disappointing.
"But it's an opportunity to progress and we want to take that opportunity, although it's going to need a very good performance."
Too many changes?
While he is determined to go as far as possible in the Europa League, Ferguson remains disappointed when he reflects on United's Champions League campaign and feels he may have identified one flaw in his European strategy.
"I don't know if it's because we're making too many changes in these games," he said.
"Certainly against Ajax in the second leg we did that. We also made mistakes in the group stages.
"It's our own fault. The Basel game will always be remembered for the carelessness of our performance.
"We were a bit unlucky against Benfica at home but, at that point, we needed to beat them. It was a disappointment but tomorrow I'm playing a strong team and I hope that makes a difference."
