(Football news) The two teams are level at 1-1 after last week’s first leg in San Sebastian where Joshua Zirkzee’s opener was cancelled out by a 70th-minute penalty from Mikel Oyarzabal.
Three days after sharing the spoils with Real Sociedad in Spain, Man United played out another 1-1 draw at home to Arsenal in the Premier League on Sunday, with a superb yet controversial Bruno Fernandes free kick cancelled out by Declan Rice’s second-half equaliser.
The Red Devils are guaranteed to end their domestic campaign trophyless and as they languish 14th in the Premier League table, 13 points behind the top five with 10 matches remaining, the pressure is on Ruben Amorim to deliver Europa League glory if the club wishes to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Not only on-field matters at Manchester United have caught the headlines this week, as co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has delivered his verdict on several key issues around the club, ranging from financial troubles to the impact of Amorim, in a series of wide-ranging interviews, while also announcing plans to build a new 100,000 seater stadium.
The immediate priority for Amorim and co is getting results on the pitch, and while they may have struggled on the domestic front this term, they remain the only team in the Europa League who are yet to lose in this season’s competition (W5 D4), winning each of their last three games at Old Trafford.
Manchester United have, in fact, lost only one of their last 28 Europa League home matches (W21 D6), but that solitary defeat was inflicted by none other than Real Sociedad, who secured a slender 1-0 group-stage triumph in September 2022 courtesy of a second-half penalty from Brais Mendez.
Real Sociedad’s first-leg draw with ManchesterSimilarly to Man United, Imanol Alguacil’s side may be required to go all the way in the Europa League if they wish to qualify for next season’s Champions League, as they have slipped to 11th in the La Liga table and 15 points behind the top four with 11 games remaining; they are also 10 points behind the top five and a guaranteed Europa League spot for next season.
Real Sociedad head into Thursday’s contest having lost six of their last eight away matches in all competitions as well as two of their last three on the road in the Europa League, but La Real are unbeaten across their last two visits to Old Trafford (W1 D1) and have kept a clean sheet on both occasions.
The San Sebastian-based outfit, who beat FC Midtjylland 2-1 in the playoff round in their last European away game, are bidding to progress beyond the last 16 of major European competition for the first time in the 21st century.
Manchester United represents their only positive result across their last four fixtures, as they have lost each of their last three domestic games including last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Sevilla in La Liga.
Having previously suffered a heavy 4-0 loss at Barcelona, La Real came unstuck by a sweeping Sevilla counter-attack finished off by Chidera Ejuke just a minute after the restart, and they went on to lose their 13th La Liga game of the season as well as their sixth in nine top-flight matches in 2025.
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