MADRID, May 7 (Xinhua) -- There is a building close to Athletic Bilbao's San Mames Stadium that has the word 'Soñar' painted in big letters on one of its walls.
Soñar means 'dream' in Spanish, and that is something the Basque club is still doing ahead of its UEFA Europa League semifinal return leg against Manchester United on Thursday.
Last week's first leg was a nightmare for Athletic. The home side had started well against United, with two chances Inaki Williams and Alex Berenguer should have scored.
After Harry Maguire set up Casemiro for United's opener against the run of play, the referee and VAR failed to see two handballs from Alejandro Garnacho at the start of the move that ended with United getting a penalty for Daniel Vivian's slight touch on Rasmus Hojlund, which saw Bruno Fernandes double the visitors' lead while killing the tie after Vivian was sent off.
When Fernandes made it 3-0 before halftime, everything looked to be over, but Athletic dug deep in a second-half damage limitation exercise to keep a spark of hope for the return leg.
4,000 Athletic fans have picked up their tickets for the trip to Manchester and will travel to the U.K. via a variety of routes, hoping for a comeback that seems even more difficult looking at Athletic's absences.
Vivian is suspended, while Spain internationals Nico Williams and Oihan Sancet look set to miss out, with Nico suffering from a pelvic injury that saw him miss out at the weekend against Real Sociedad, while the hamstring injury that kept Sancet out of the first leg will probably sideline him for the second.
Inaki Williams also has a muscle problem that he suffered in Sunday's Basque derby and also looks unlikely to start, meaning Unai Gomez and Berenguer will probably partner Maroan Sannadi in attack.
Vivian's absence will allow Aitor Paredes to start in central defense, while Andoni Gorosabel should play on the right.
The Athletic players have admitted they were broken after last week's defeat, but the reaction of the supporters, who stayed in the ground to cheer them for 10 minutes after the final whistle, helped to lift them and give them hope. ■
