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3 Players United Will Have To Be Wary Of – Athletic Bilbao

Manchester United host Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford tonight in the first leg of their Europa League round of 16 clash. With that in mind it’s worth taking a look at these three players who we should be wary of across the ties.

Fernando Llorente

Strikers are ruthless and there’s probably no better classical striker in La Liga right now than Llorente who at 27, is now probably entering the prime of a career that is likely to scale new heights in the coming years.

After bursting into attention in the 2007/08 season, Llorente has quickly become Bilbao’s figure-point up front. He is very much a danger on the floor as he is in the air and at times can be unplayable if given the right service.

With Fernando Torres out-of-form and David Villa injured, Llorente is primed to Spain’s first-choice striker at Euro 2012 and tonight will be a chance for him to show to his doubters that he is a man for the big-occasion at national level.

Javi Martinez

Picture this, how many European Championship winning captains playing in midfield are comfortable playing in central-defence? The answer; not many of them, but that’s what Martinez has been doing this season for Bilbao.

After starring in midfield in Spain’s victorious UEFA-Under 21 Championship winning side in Denmark this summer, fans across Europe begun to take notice of Martinez comparing him to midfielders such as Xabi Alonso, in terms of how he bossed games.

Marcelo Bielsa, Bilbao’s coach decided that Martinez this season would be best utilised as a centre-back, a position he had played in before and certainly judging on his form, the change to position as only made the youngster a bigger commodity than before.

Iker Munain

To get dubbed ‘the Spanish Messi’ you have got to be extremely talented and Spanish (obviously), but that’s exactly what Munain is and judging by the form he has shown since making his Bilbao debut in 2009, he has all the tools to be a great player.

Despite being only 5’7’ Munain possesses a big platform in games and is a delight to watch on the ball. He has excellent passing skills, good footwork, good dribbling skills and isn’t afraid of being knocked down by bigger players.

Already a key part of Spain’s future, Munain earned his first cap for the senior side a fortnight ago coming on for Cesc Fabregas against Venezuela and is poised along with Martinez to be representing Spain in the Olympics this summer.

By Adam Dennehey @ADennehey87

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