Gary Neville has revealed that staff at Manchester United couldn’t believe the running Athletic Bilbao did at Old Trafford when they were managed by Marcelo Bielsa.
The Argentinian was in charge of the Basque outfit for two years from 2011 and took them to the Europa League final when they ultimately lost to Atletico Madrid. Whilst that was disappointing, there were many great nights for the club on the way, with the way they beat United particularly special.
And, Neville, speaking to Sky Sports, as quoted by the Daily Mail, has opened up on that, revealing that the running the Spaniards did in their 3-2 win at Old Trafford was barely believable.
“I remember speaking to Tony Strudwick (analyst) a few days after the game and he said he had to look at the stats three times to believe them.
“He said they were absolutely off the scale in terms of their running stats, he’d never seen anything like it at Old Trafford. That Bielsa team was stupidly ridiculous in terms of the stats it posted at Old Trafford that night.”
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After dominating the first-leg in England but only taking a one goal lead after a late Wayne Rooney penalty, Athletic Bilbao would go through pretty comfortably, beating Sir Alex Ferguson’s side 2-1 on their own patch to eliminate them in the last 16.
Of course, Bielsa is now in charge of Leeds United and his intense methods are well-known. And, they are paying off, with the Whites currently top of the Championship and they hold a seven-point lead over the chasing pack as they seek automatic promotion. Providing they finish the job, Bielsa will be back at Old Trafford again next season and Leeds fans will be relishing the chance to face their bitter rivals again on the big stage.