Manchester United drew the first-leg of their Europa League round-of-16 tie 1-1 against Real Sociedad in Spain.
When travelling to San Sebastian last week, Manchester United would’ve probably taken a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad but after the game it felt like a missed opportunity.
Ruben Amorim’s struggling Reds were on top of the game and the La Liga outfit couldn’t create any chances.
After Joshua Zirkzee’s goal, it seemed like a second would give United a huge advantage ahead of the return leg at Old Trafford next week.
But the Spaniards were gifted a golden opportunity after VAR intervention. Bruno Fernandes was adjusted to handle the ball inside the United box and Mikel Oyarzabal scored from the spot.
It was a disappointment but Amorim’s men would’ve still been able to take confidence from their performance ahead of the important Europa League clash in Manchester.
Spanish media concerned about “dangerous” United duo
It is quite hard to name more than a handful of in-form players at United right now but there were many who looked solid against Sociedad.
Zirkzee managed to get on the scoresheet and produce another promising display.
There were mixed feelings about Alejandro Garnacho’s performance. Once again, he was involved constantly in dangerous attacking moves.
But other than his layoff to Zirkzee for the goal, the Argentine wasted a lot of chances which frustrated many United fans.
Spanish media, though, believed that Garnacho created danger for the visitors and they are concerned about him and Zirkzee after they stood out in Spain.
Spanish outlet AS wrote: “Manchester United looked for a more vertical style of football, constantly playing behind the Real Sociedad defence to take advantage of the speed of Garnacho and Zirkzee, who were the players who created the most danger.”
United’s defence key to dominance
While the forward players are often the ones to get the attention, the main reason United were able to sustain pressure against Sociedad last time was due to the performance of the defenders.
Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui in particular were being very aggressive in their wide centre-back roles which allowed United to keep pressure on.
The three-at-the-back system only works properly when those wide centre-backs can step up and join the press. Too often this season it has looked like a flat back five and that is useless to Amorim.
And despite the attention on Diogo Dalot’s missed pass to Rasmus Højlund last time out, it seemed like he was operating higher up, as was Patrick Dorgu.
Read More: Fabrizio Romano reveals Manchester United are “very happy” with star after intense exit rumours
These small things involving the defenders were key to United looking improved against Sociedad in the first-leg and need to continue if they are to progress to the Europa League quarter-finals.
Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is streamed live every Thursday at 12:30 pm (GMT) on the United View YouTube channel.