After their worst-ever Premier League campaign, Maguire has conceded Manchester United were "a mess" earlier in the season as manager Ruben Amorim took charge. United have lost a Premier League-era record 15 games, are 14th in the table with a -8 goal difference and have four games remaining. However, the side are just a few games away from possibly lifting the Europa League trophy and earning Champions League qualification.
Asked if winning the Europa League would save United's season, Maguire said:
“It's been a difficult season, it's been a disappointing season, but football is about memories, it's about creating memories, it's about winning trophies and we have a great opportunity to win a trophy. For our fans, for what they deserve, so that's the most important thing.”
“I think we've put ourselves in a great position,” said Maguire. “There's no doubt about it, coming here and winning 3-0. It's a great position and now everyone expects us to be in the final.”
The England international played a huge part in the first leg against Athletic Bilbao as he set up Casemiro’s opening goal. He admitted that the chance of complacency seeping in ahead of the second leg is very low and hopes that he and his side can carry their performance into the second leg in front of the Old Trafford crowd.
“So we've just got to prepare well. We've got to prepare like it's still 0-0 and go into the game being aggressive and play on the front foot. We'll be going into that game trying to win and that's the mentality we must have because we're at Old Trafford and playing at Old Trafford demands winning football matches.
“We know they could score first, but we've got to remain calm. We've got a lot of senior players who need to step up in their moments - Casemiro, Bruno as well. So we have senior players who need to handle these moments really well.”