Harry Maguire starred as Manchester United beat Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final clash and believes the club owe it to the fans to win the tournament
Harry Maguire says Manchester United’s players owe it to their fans to win the Europa League after such a shambolic season in the Premier League. United, 14th in the Premier League after 15 defeats this season, planted one foot in the Europa League final with a stunning 3-0 win away to Athletic Bilbao.
Maguire set United on their way to victory, playing a key role in Casemiro’s opener, before two goals from skipper Bruno Fernandes put them on the brink of the final on May 21 back in Bilbao.
After their worst-ever Premier League campaign, Maguire said winning the Europa League in the San Mames Stadium – and with it a shortcut into the Champions League – is the least United’s players owe their loyal fans.
Asked if winning the Europa League would save United’s season, Maguire said: “It wouldn’t save the season, because I think it’s been disappointing. There’s been too many games that we’ve lost and we’ve been far too inconsistent.
“It’s been a bit of a mess in the middle of the season. The transition period, we didn’t handle it well enough as players. We didn’t take the responsibility well enough, from moving manager to manager and we took too long in embedding into new ideas.
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“It’s been a difficult season, it’s been a disappointing season, but football is about memories, it’s about creating memories, it’s about winning trophies and we have a great opportunity to win a trophy. For our fans, for what they deserve, so that’s the most important thing.”
“I think we’ve put ourselves in a great position,” said Maguire. “There’s no doubt about it, coming here and winning 3-0. It’s a great position and now everyone expects us to be in the final.
“So we’ve just got to prepare well. We’ve got to prepare like it’s still 0-0 and go into the game being aggressive and play on the front foot. We’ll be going into that game trying to win and that’s the mentality we must have because we’re at Old Trafford and playing at Old Trafford demands winning football matches.
“We know they could score first, but we’ve got to remain calm. We’ve got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments – Casemiro, Bruno as well. So we have senior players who need to handle these moments really well.”
Maguire has enjoyed a remarkable renaissance at United after hitting rock bottom, with a series of high-profile mistakes costing him the captaincy and casting doubt on his Old Trafford career.
But the England defender has emerged as one of United’s best players in an otherwise wretched season, although he does not count this as his best campaign since joining from Leicester for £80million in 2019.
“No, I wouldn’t say it’s my best season at the club, if I’m being honest,” said Maguire. “The first two seasons, coming into a team that finished seventh the year before, I think we kept the most clean sheets in Europe and finished third the second season.
“Then we finished second, so I think those were my two best seasons at the club, form-wise, although, I must say the big moments this year for sure have been a lot better than in previous seasons.”
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