Manchester United have suffered yet another injury, in a blow before their Europa League semi-final second leg meeting with Athletic Club.
The injuries have been rife this season for Ruben Amorim’s team, with the defensive area of the pitch a particular problem.
Diogo Dalot, Ayden Heaven and Lisandro Martinez are currently on the injury table, with the latter expected to miss much of next season.
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And Manchester United have been dealt a further blow today.
Matthijs de Ligt was forced off in the first half of United’s Premier League match against Brentford, with Harry Maguire replacing him.
The Dutch defender had only just returned from injury, so a further knock will come at great concern for the United medical staff.
De Ligt appeared to suffer a blow to his left knee and struggled to put weight on it as he limped off.
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If confirmed, a knee injury would certainly rule Matthijs De Ligt out for the rest of the season, including United’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Athletic Club on Thursday, and indeed a potential final.
Notably, depending on the severity, the injury could keep De Ligt out of the start of next season, increasing pressure on United transfer chiefs to find a new defender.
For United fans, the early signs have been mixed.
Manchester Evening News reporter, Tyrone Marshall, confirmed on X that the defender left the stadium limping, but was without crutches and walked onto the team bus unaided.
Which implies that the injury isn’t that serious.
However, comments made by head coach Ruben Amorim after the game were more concerning.
“I don’t know so I’m really concerned – not about Thursday,” he said when asked about the injury to Matthijs de Ligt.
“We took off Luke Shaw at half-time to protect and have players for Thursday, but I’m more concerned whether it is a small or big injury and thinking about next season”.
With a mention specifically of next season in his comments, it seems that the Portuguese coach believes that it’s likely that the Dutch defender will most the rest of the season.
The match ended 4-3 to The Bees, with Mason Mount opening the scoring, before four unanswered Brentford goals put the match out of reach.
Manchester United did strike back with late goals from Alejandro Garnacho and the returning Amad Diallo, but could not overturn the result which ended 4-3.
Matthijs de Ligt just left the stadium. He was limping but no crutches and walked to the bus unaided #mufc
— Tyrone Marshall (@TyMarshall_MEN) May 4, 2025
