{"id":34993,"date":"2025-04-20T07:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-04-20T07:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34993\/"},"modified":"2025-04-20T07:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-20T07:16:08","slug":"man-utd-rivals-athletic-club-confirm-injury-nightmare-before-europa-league-semi-final-football-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/34993\/","title":{"rendered":"Man Utd rivals Athletic Club confirm injury nightmare before Europa League semi-final | Football | Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Athletic Club<\/a> have confirmed that Nico Williams has suffered an ill-timed groin injury, ruling him out of Sunday’s La Liga<\/a> clash against Real Madrid<\/a>. The Spanish outfit’s star winger now faces fitness uncertainty ahead of the Europa League<\/a> semi-final tie with Manchester United<\/a>, which kicks off with the first leg on May 1.<\/p>\n

Williams has less than two weeks to return to contention before United visit the Estadio de San Mames, leaving Ernesto Valverde sweating. He has played a crucial role in Athletic’s run to the final four, registering five goals and two assists in 12 games throughout the campaign. But the 22-year-old’s return date is up in the air, with Las Palmas also to play before hosting their mammoth European tie comes around.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, a club statement read<\/a>: “Nico Williams will not travel to Madrid for the match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium due to groin pain. The outcome is pending.”<\/p>\n

Williams is among the most dangerous players in Valverde’s arsenal, joining brother Inaki Williams and Oihan Sancet in an ultra-talented attacking trio behind the striker.<\/p>\n

The Williams brothers have scored five goals apiece in the Europa League this season and boast the quality to put United to the sword.<\/p>\n

But if his injury extends into the crunch semi-final tie, Athletic will be without a crucial cog in Valverde’s resolute team.<\/p>\n

United face a daunting task against the Spaniards, who finished one place higher than them in second in the league phase.<\/p>\n

Athletic have the added motivation of playing in their home stadium should they reach the final to face Tottenham Hotspur<\/a> or Bodo\/Glimt.<\/p>\n

They haven’t tasted defeat at the Estadio de San Mames since January 16, losing just three times across the 18 matches that followed.<\/p>\n

United have reason to be optimistic, though, after conjuring up a miraculous comeback in the final six minutes of extra-time against Lyon.<\/p>\n

The Red Devils trailed 4-2, having led 2-0, in the 114th minute before Bruno Fernandes<\/a>, Kobbie Mainoo, and Harry Maguire erupted the roof off Old Trafford.<\/p>\n

Ruben Amorim<\/a>‘s side haven’t lost once in their 12 Europa League games this season and are the only remaining unbeaten outfit in European competition.<\/p>\n

It has been a contrast from their Premier League campaign, which has left glory in Bilbao their only pathway to Champions League football next term.<\/p>\n

Regardless of Williams’ public status, Amorim will undoubtedly be preparing his players for the test of silencing the Spaniard in May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Athletic Club have confirmed that Nico Williams has suffered an ill-timed groin injury, ruling him out of Sunday’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34994,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[20247,1811,94,12031,96,423,1063,16654,8558,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-34993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-athletic-bilbao-fc","9":"tag-europa-league","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-football-section","12":"tag-la-liga","13":"tag-manchester-united-fc","14":"tag-nico-williams","15":"tag-real-madrid-fc","16":"tag-sport-section","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114369068302193099","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34993\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}