Athletic Bilbao v Manchester United Tip

Athletic Bilbao served a reminder in the first leg that Spanish football has a real depth of quality as the side sat seventh in La Liga won at the home of the reigning English champions. A 3-2 victory was no more than the visitors deserved with even Sir Alex Ferguson admitting that “ they were the better team.”

Manchester United now need to either win 2-0 or score at least three times at the San Mames Stadium to have any chance of progression. Bilbao enjoyed so much attacking success at Old Trafford that they will surely try to adopt a similar approach to see them through the return.

That David de Gea was thought to have had a great game between the sticks for the Red Devils tells its own story. The Spaniards had a remarkable 22 shots, of which 14 were on target. The Red Devils are fortunate that a late Wayne Rooney penalty kept their hopes alive. The new Premier League leaders are certainly capable of making that late strike count in Bilbao.

Two teams pushing forward ought to make for another enthralling end-to-end game. Sportingbet go a best price 15/4 that there will again be over 4.5 goals in the match - that looks like very decent value in the circumstances.