Ruben Amorim has put Man United on notice ahead of Athletic Bilbao Europa League semi-final

Any other club currently in with a strong chance of winning a major European trophy this season will most likely have players feeling confident about their futures.

Not at Manchester United, though. Ruben Amorim's side find themselves in the remarkable position of being unbeaten in the Europa League, with a three-goal aggregate advantage heading into a home semi-final while simultaneously being unable to buy a win in the Premier League.

Amorim warned some time ago that he would no longer be prioritising the Premier League and instead would be throwing his focus at the Europa League - the only available route to the rich bounties of the Champions League. However, few would have expected the players to take their eyes so far off the ball too.

United have not tasted victory in the Premier League since March 16 when they beat already relegated Leicester City. The last time they beat a side who has not been relegated to the Championship was in January.

Therefore, expectations were low heading into the clash at Brentford on Sunday. As it turned out, it was right not to be optimistic.

At 4-1, the Bees had not got out of second gear and only the bolt of energy from two of United's youngsters avoided a truly embarrassing scoreline. In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Amorim was in no mood to shrug off the defeat as unimportant even if it would be should his side win the Europa League.

"We are not ready to play Premier League competitively and be in the Champions League," he told the broadcaster. "But we need to win and we need to win this competition to give something to our fans. Then we will have time to prepare the team to cope with those two competitions."

Many would assume that Amorim had little patience for this