Manchester United to play friendly against Athletic Club in Dublin in August

Manchester United are set to play a friendly against Basque side Athletic Club in Dublin on August 6 following a packed July that includes six pre-season games in Oslo, Edinburgh, New Jersey, San Diego, Houston and Las Vegas.

The game will be held at the Aviva Stadium, which seats 51,000.

United enjoy huge support in the Republic of Ireland and last played in Dublin in 2018, with Juan Mata and Henrikh Mkhitaryan scoring in a 2-1 win against Italian side Sampdoria. That year, a game featuring former United players also attracted a sell-out 45,000 crowd in Cork, which was held in honour of former player Liam Miller.

Athletic Club, also known as Athletic Bilbao, finished eighth in La Liga in 2022/23, missing out on European football by one league place having finished two points behind neighbours Osasuna, who also eliminated them in the Copa del Rey semi-final in Bilbao.

Athletic only dropped out of a European place on the final day of the season after a 1-1 draw at Real Madrid. They are managed by former Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde.

Former United player Ander Herrera, 33, also plays for the club, as he did in 2012 when Marcelo Bielsa’s side beat United home and away to eliminate them from the Europa League. It remains one of the greatest performances by an away team in European football at Old Trafford.

United also played Athletic in a famous 1957 European Cup tie which will be remembered for a number of reasons.

The English and Spanish champions played the first leg in Bilbao. The January weather in northern Spain is known to be harsh and snow rendered Bilbao airport treacherous and deserted when United arrived.

“My impression of Spain being sun and sand were based on holiday posters at railway stations so I was