TAKE ME HOME, MANCHESTER UNITED

It is the eve of the Europa League semi-final. Manchester United make the short trip to Northern Spain to face strong favourites Athletic Bilbao in the first leg, before welcoming the Basque club to Old Trafford in the return leg, in what promises to be an intriguing encounter, to say the very least.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I do not engulf the Spanish league like I do the English league. And that is for good reason – I do not huff and puff the entire week (albeit in my office chair) praying for weekends to befall just to witness tactical snooze-fests with off-putting and often weary commentary.

Far from it.

I desire action. I crave drama. I aspire for top teams to go to wars, where the only way to survive is by mutilating the opposition. I wait, with boundless anticipation and patience, for the mighty Red Devils to get down to business each week. To represent me. To represent people like me, for whom the sight of business well done brings a sense of unwavering optimism and defiance, and opens floodgates for catharsis, regardless of how short-lived these feelings may be.

Oh, how I love this beautiful game, expressed in its simplest, truest form.

I say all this not to demean the Spanish league in the slightest, but only to highlight my (unapologetic) aloofness of what Bilbao brings to the table against United today, and the resultant inability to comprehend the events that transpire if United nose-dive into the oblivion against Bilbao, like they have done throughout this wretched season. Accordingly, I will abstain from commenting on Bilbao or the way I think the game will play out and only focus on what this semi-final tie signifies for United in the grand scheme of things.

In the short-term, the season is on the line for United. This is obvious, plain and simple. Lying abysmally in bottom half of the English league and out of all domestic cup competitions, the Europa League competition presents the only opportunity for United to make something out of what has been a tumultuous year, characterised by massive shifts on both the ownership and managerial fronts, consistency issues, attitude concerns, player fall outs, and dressing room leaks. It is literally win or go home, do or die, howsoever you look at it.

Yet, when the mighty reds take to the field for the first leg and time reaches a stand-still, I highly doubt if I will be able to suppress the other nagging and more complicated thought in my head – the implications that this tie will have on our future.

Winning the Europa League competition guarantees you a position in the Champions League, the top tier of European football, next season, something that can only otherwise be achieved by finishing as one of the top teams in the domestic league. While qualifying for the competition is a huge achievement for clubs across Europe, for a club of United’s stature and size, participation in the competition is a necessity rather than an opportunity. Participation in the competition guarantees high revenue turnaround and transforms a club into an attractive destination for the who’s who of football overnight. It provides much needed stability to clubs, both on and off the field, something that United have been longing for especially over the past couple of years.

In view of this alone, the magnitude of this occasion is unquantifiable – winning the competition will hand United the opportunity to properly back their new managerial hire Ruben Amorim in what is set to be a pivotal summer for the club. It will also allow the new ownership at United to block the outside noise and put its plan of action in motion, giving fans a glimpse of what the future can hold.

However, I firmly believe that winning this competition would do a lot more for United than just shore up its financials. It will give the slowly-but-surely depleting institution much needed ‘momentum’ heading into next season. Momentum strong enough to unite players for a common cause. Momentum inspiring enough for the manager to fully implement his philosophy. Momentum magical enough for fans to start believing again. Momentum pompous enough for it to be cultivated into winning culture. For what is a rebuild without momentum? Only a rhetorical question. And it all starts today. So, here I stand (rather sit, in my office chair), desperately waiting on United to do the unimaginable. Because if there is anything I know about my club, it is that we will never die. How can we? After all, “we’ve seen it all, we’ve won the lot, we’re Man United and we’re never gonna stop”.