Ruben Amorim's unexpected Manchester United decision sets up Athletic Bilbao selection dilemma

As the clock ticked down at the Vitality Stadium and Manchester United chased a goal against Bournemouth with the kind of intensity that shows they haven't entirely abandoned this Premier League season, Luke Shaw turned to Ruben Amorim and sought clarification on something.

Shaw was seeking out an explanation of where he was supposed to be playing after Amorim had thrown on 17-year-old striker Chido Obi in place of Noussair Mazraoui, a substitution that suggested a move to 4-4-2 but resulted in pieces of the jigsaw being moved around to fit Amorim's 3-4-2-1 shape.

After the 75th-minute change, Shaw initially moved to left wing-back and then back to centre-back. He was trying to get a handle on his role, but he could equally have been asking Amorim, 'What am I still doing on the pitch here?'

It wasn't in the plan for the 29-year-old to play 90 minutes on his first club start in 434 days, just as it hadn't been in the script for him to play 75 minutes against Lyon at Old Trafford. After that run out, he was given the day off entirely against Wolves.

That won't be possible this week. The last time Shaw completed 90 minutes for United was on February 1, 2024. The last time he did so for England was in the European Championship final and he was injured again soon after.

Having forced him to empty the tank and go into the red zone against Bournemouth, Amorim will almost certainly have to ask for more in Bilbao this week. He would have preferred for Shaw to play an hour or a little more against the Cherries, building his fitness up for a Europa League semi-final that is easily United's biggest game of the season so far.

Shaw will surely have to start again in San Mames, even if that might come with a risk, given his nightmare