Yes it is. United's ENTIRE 24/25 campaign rests on what we do tonight against Spanish side Real Sociedad in the second leg of the round of 16 tie.
The first leg ended 1-1 despite Ruben Amorim's side having the better of the opportunities with the Portuguese leaving San Sebastian a little disappointed that his team didn't walk away with a deserved victory.
Joshua Zirkzee with United's goal before a penalty was awarded to the Spaniards after Bruno Fernandes was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the box. Mikel Oyazarbal converted the spot kick leaving the tie at odds even making for an interesting return fixture at Old Trafford.
Predicted Lineup
With United having to add a couple more injuries to an already long list, there will be enforced changes to Amorim's XI from the Arsenal draw.
Still no backup goalies available as the manager confirmed only Manuel Ugarte to potentially return to the playing XI for tonight.
Onana will start once more behind the trio of Mazraoui (LCB), De Ligt and Lindelof (RCB). The Swede to make his second start in two games thanks to the injuries to Leny Yoro and Harry Maguire who will miss this match.
Dorgu will be back after serving his second of three domestic bans for a red card in the win over Ipswich. He slots in at left wing-back with Dalot moving over to the right. Hopefully he plays the pass when its on.
The midfield should see Bruno and Ugarte although the manager didn't assure us that the Uruguayan is 100% fit after missing the last two matches. However, should he be ready, he will definitely partner the skipper otherwise Casemiro to continue in midfield. With the way he's performed recently, I wouldn't actually mind that.
I don't think we'll be seeing any surprises up front as Garnacho, Zirkzee and Hojlund will be the attacking trio. There might be the chance that Amorim goes with Eriksen instead of Garnacho which will also give us an attacking option off the bench, but I can't see that happening.
Approach
We certainly cannot play as we did against Arsenal. That was very much like Ole ball, one of defend and counter.
Yes it was effectual and got us an unlikely positive result, but United tend to play in that way against the better sides. Sociedad will be the underdogs tonight whereas we will be the favorites. When we're the underdogs, it allows us to play in this more conservative style which is more suitable to these players because they are very basic.
Sociedad, like all Spanish teams, will look to come and play but if they're smart enough, will sit back and hit us on the counter as that is our kryptonite. It's no coincidence that our best performances have come when the pressure is on the opposition.
However, as we're at home, all the onus will be on us. United have to take the initiative to our opponents and be on the front foot as all taking it easy or having a slow tempo will do is make the crowd unhappy, increase the nerves and boost the belief of Sociedad.
We did keep them relatively quiet until after the penalty last week. Once that went in, we saw the familiar issue of heads dropping from United giving Sociedad the opportunity to go on and potentially win the game.
They had a couple of really good chances to do so and Onana was called upon to make some smart saves.
Other than that, our gameplan worked but it was also one that was more defensive as the hosts did have more of the ball. The difference between this game and Arsenal was that United were actually winning the ball back in dangerous areas in Spain. We caught them out in good positions as we had high turnovers. Our goal came from such a situation with Zirkzee managing to finish it off.
When we did have the ball, we also controlled possession pretty well and moved it as the manager would've wanted. United were so good in fact, that we had 13 shots at goal with 5 on target.
Amorim will have been pleased with the fact that his players actually managed to get in these situations but will no doubt have been annoyed that they couldn't make the most of them.
He would want more of the same but with the improvement of actually scoring.
Everyone knows how important this match is to United which makes those first 15 minutes so important as that is where there will be a lot of energy. Should we start off with the right attitude, the crowd will feed off of the players and vice versa which can make it difficult for the Spaniards.
Form
After last week's draw, United remained the only unbeaten side in all of Europe. A nice record to keep going into tonight.
Weirdly though, our last three games in all competitions ended in 1-1 draws: Fulham, Arsenal and Sociedad. This shows a lack of a goal scoring prowess up front which makes sense given the forms of our forward players.
Zirkzee is the only attacking player who has scored in recent memory including his strike in Spain 7 days ago.
United have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last eight in all comps, the last of which came in this competition in the 2-0 win over FCSB at the end of January.
Amorim's side have also not kept a clean sheet in their last 11 at Old Trafford with the last coming against Everton in a 4-0 victory in what was Amorim's third game in charge.
This will give Sociedad some hope.
What will add to this hope is that United have conceded the opener in 16 of Amorim's 26 games in charge. A ratio of 62%.
We have to try and get the first goal.
Real Sociedad
The Spaniards themselves have similar struggles to United. One could say that they are the United of La Liga although their position of 11th in the table is better than our 14th but it's not much of a difference.
Imanol Alguacil's side have failed to win any of their last four with three defeats and that draw against us last week. Those three losses were to Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla in their last match. That loss at home is what caused them to drop from 9th to 11th in the table.
As mentioned, Sociedad have an issue up top just like United as they've only netted 23 goals in Spain's top flight. That is the joint second-lowest in the league with Getafe. Only Valladolid at the bottom have scored fewer (18).
However, the positive for the Basque side is that they have conceded just 28 with only five clubs having conceded fewer in La Liga. This shows they are a side that are relatively defensively solid.
In their last four matches, we see this issue of not scoring come to the fore as the only goal in this time for Sociedad came in the draw against us. They failed to score against Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla.
Sociedad are also not the best of teams on the road as in Spain, they are 11th in the away table with four wins, two draws and seven defeats. They have also scored just 8 which again, is the second worst. On the contrary, the 14 conceded is amongst the fewest.
The influential Martin Zubimendi should return to midfield after missing out last week's draw through illness. He is a player we need to watch out for.
Recent Meetings
United and Sociedad have met on seven occasions. There have been three United wins, three draws and just one win for the Spaniards however, that solitary victory was the last time Sociedad came to Old Trafford in 22/23. That was a 1-0 scoreline with their goal also coming from a (dodgy) handball that led to a penalty.
For United, we've made it into the quarters of this competition in the last four seasons we've been in it but in our last six knockout stage defeats in both the Europa and Champions Leagues, United have been dumped out by Spanish opposition.
We all know that Spanish sides are always a tough test, one that we usually fail, so we need to be careful.
The last time we reached the quarter finals of this competition in that 22/23 season, Sevilla put us out after a 3-0 win in Spain. The first leg was 2-2 even though United were up 2 goals and cruising in 20 minutes. 2 own goals by players who won't be available (Tyrell Malacia and Harry Maguire) gave Sevilla the fortunate draw.
Let's hope we don't see that sort of thing happen again.
Prediction
I don't think we'll see that tbh. While I do expect a nervy and tight game because we can't trust these players, I do believe we will win 2-1.
A part of me though, does feel like we will go 2 goals up but then concede stupidly and the game heads into squeaky bum territory.
I suppose as long as we go through, what does it matter?
This one lads, is one we seriously CANNOT cock up.
Background player image: Joshua Zirkzee against Arsenal |Image via Manchester United official X (@ManUtd)