Ruben Amorim has the opportunity to unleash an exciting Manchester United attack vs Brentford

It is often said that good things come in threes, and that was definitely the case for Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium on Thursday night.

Not only did they take a huge stride towards the Europa League final, beating Athletic Bilbao 3-0 in the first leg of their semi-final showdown, but they also welcomed Matthijs de Ligt and Amad back from ankle injuries.

De Ligt, who replaced Harry Maguire after 65 minutes, had missed the last six games and Amad had been unavailable for almost three months. He got six minutes under his belt, replacing Patrick Dorgu late on.

By the time both players had stepped onto the pitch, the contest was as good as over. United's three-goal blast in the last 15 minutes of the first half had put the contest beyond Athletic, who will travel to Old Trafford next week facing the steepest of uphill struggles.

But before United and head coach Ruben Amorim can give any thought to the return leg with the Spanish outfit, they must navigate their way through Sunday's Premier League clash with Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium. Just like last weekend's trip to Bournemouth, it feels like another meaningless away day.

However, given the tight turnaround time between the trip to Bilbao and the trip to the capital, the clash with the Bees is likely to be a big occasion for some of United's fringe players and youngsters.

Despite taking a 3-0 aggregate lead into next week's second leg with Athletic, Amorim should be wrapping the vast majority of his main men in cotton wool on Sunday and saving them for the main event four days later. It has already been confirmed Noussair Mazraoui will play no part.

The likelihood of Amorim rotating his pack will almost certainly see the likes of Harry Amass, Luke