Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info "For United are going to Bilbao" was the soundtrack to watching United in Bilbao. But they will be back. Surely even the modern-day Manchester United and their astonishing commitment to the banter era can't blow this? So commanding is this position after a first leg of scarcely believable comfort in the Basque Country that fans would have been flocking to familiar travel websites to book up flights and hotels for a return later in May. That will be an unpalatable occasion for the locals, who were left with a seething sense of injustice at the way events unfolded in the first half of the first leg at San Mames. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play a European final in your home city. Athletic are a unique club in so many ways, including how they celebrate. This is the club that parades a trophy by floating the players and the silverware down a barge on the Nervion river that runs through the city. Their chances of winning a trophy this season have capsized. It looked like being a different story as United rode out a shaky opening 20 minutes. They were poor in possession and committing sloppy errors inside a deafening San Mames. Then the game turned, and it turned thanks to three players who have been crucial to this Europa League run. Casemiro scored the opening goal and was outstanding once again in a European game. Bruno Fernandes now has six goals and an assist in five knockout ties. His penalty was nerveless after such a long delay, and his finish for his second was outstanding. But maybe the moment the game really turned was when Harry Maguire twisted one way and another, and then another, keeping the ball close and confusing his marker, creating a yard of space to send in a pinpoint cross that Manuel Ugarte flicked on and Casemiro buried. It was a moment that stunned San Mames - and plenty of United supporters - and 15 minutes later they were out of the tie. It was another moment that made you think something is building for United in this competition this season. It's never a wise move as an elite athlete to convince yourself that destiny is on your side, but these United players must be beginning to think there is something in the water this season when it comes to the Europa League. They remain unbeaten through 13 European games this season, and although the opposition hasn't always been of a high standard, they have played Porto and Fenerbahce away in the group stage and teams from Spain (twice) and France in the knockout stages. Throughout that run, they have scored six times in the final couple of minutes of the game, including the extra-time goals against Lyon. In the knockout rounds, they have benefited from a sending-off for Real Sociedad, Lyon and now Athletic Bilbao. They were behind in the second leg at Old Trafford to Real and Lyon. Don't expect that to be the case in the semi-final. Rarely can a second leg with a European final on the line look to be so stress-free. After their heroics against Lyon a few weeks ago and that miraculous three-goal, six-minute comeback, it did feel like this might just, somehow, be United's season in Europe. What happened in Bilbao only strengthened that feeling. Amorim's side are disastrous domestically, but they have looked a different proposition in Europe. The question for Amorim to answer is whether that is because of the standard of opposition, a more comfortable pace of play, or a feeling of confidence in these games that has been stripped away in the Premier League. They haven't been faultless in this competition. There were stressful moments in Istanbul, Porto and Plzen. A disappointing ending in Lyon and a spell where the journey looked to be over in that second leg. But they're still standing.