Ruben Amorim admitted that winning the Europa League will not save Manchester United's season, with their problems running deep.

The Red Devils travel to Bilbao for the first leg of their semi-final on Thursday, looking to take one step towards the final, and potentially, a Champions League place for next season.

United are set to record both their lowest league finish and points tally in the Premier League, where they sit 14th on 39 points.

However, they are currently the only unbeaten team left in the Europa League this season (W7 D5). Their 12 games without defeat are the longest in major European competition since going 15 in a row between November 2016 and October 2017.

United have lost three out of four European matches against Athletic, though, with their sole win coming back in February 1957 in the second leg of that season's European Cup quarter-final (3-0 at Old Trafford, 6-5 aggregate win).

Amorim says there is an extra edge to the game given United's form this season and remains adamant that their problems will not be solved even if they do lift the trophy.

"Nothing is going to save our season," he said. "Of course, people are going to look in a different way for this season, especially for the coach.

"Again, it's something more in the core of our club. We need to change a lot of things, and we need to be consistent.

"Europa League is not [going to] change anything in our problems - it's going to give us Champions League next year, more money to spend - but the problems are still there.

"We have to change the minds of our fans with consistency, good decisions, good recruitment, good academy. This is what we need to change to take our club back to the top.

"This is more of a shortcut to go to the European games. Nothing more. The problems we need to solve in a different way with more time, and we're really clear on that."

United booked their place in the last four after a superb comeback win over Lyon in the quarter-final second leg, earning a last-gasp 5-4 win to take them through 7-6 on aggregate.

They have scored 28 goals in the Europa League this season, while they have also had the most shots (222) and touches in the opposition box (458) of any side in the competition.

United have struggled for goals in the Premier League of late, scoring 12 goals in their last 12 games, compared to netting the same amount in four knockout matches in Europe, and Amorim was unsure why the difference was so vast.

"I don't know, because we had some games that we didn't create situations, but it's not the case in the last games," he said.

"When we stopped for the national teams, we had situations against Nottingham [Forest], Wolves, Arsenal at our home. We are creating the chances, but we are not scoring goals, and sometimes you don't have an explanation for that to happen."

United have also been boosted by the returns of Amad Diallo, who has been out since February, and Matthijs de Ligt, who has not featured since the start of April, to training this week.

Amorim explained that while they are not yet fit to start, they are back in the squad for Thursday's first leg against Athletic.