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Manchester United and Real Sociedad played out a relatively eventful goalless draw at Old Trafford on Thursday night, with both defenses coming out on top.
The Red Devils were firmly in the driver's seat in the tie, following their convincing 4-0 victory at the Anoeta last week.
Despite the healthy advantage, Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still named a relatively strong starting lineup, with Bruno Fernandes wearing the captain's armband.
The first major highlight of the game came in the 12th minute when Daniel James tripped Andoni Gorosabel inside the box. The referee wasted no time in pointing to the spot.
Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal stepped up to take the resultant spot-kick, but his left-footed effort went wide of the top-left corner.
Although Bruno Fernandes took a while to get going, he soon seized the initiative after a spell of pressure by the visitors.
The Portugal international, who was at the heart of most attacking moves by Manchester United, came very close to breaking the deadlock in the first-half. A good link-up play between Fred and Mason Greenwood allowed the Brazilian to tee up Fernandes, whose audacious chip cannoned off the crossbar.
The next big chance came in the 35th minute when Fernandes played a deliciously whipped cross into the box. Daniel James met the pin-point delivery, but his header was directed straight at Alex Remiro, who pulled off a great reflex save.
Both managers made a raft of changes at half-time, and it slowed the ebb of the game a bit in the second-half.
Real Sociedad, however, got the first chance after the break, with Modibo Sagan heading against the post after a corner-kick was not properly dealt with.
Manchester United thought they had scored when Axel Tuanzebe headed home from a corner-kick. However, the goal was ruled out after consulations with the VAR due to a foul committed by Viktor Lindelof on Jon Bautista in the build-up.
Both sides fashioned notable chances for the rest of the game, but the killer edge in front of goal was lacking to ensure the match ended all square.
Following the stalemate, Manchester United booked their place in the Round of 16 of the Europa League, while Real Sociedad's European sojourn came to an end.
The Red Devils also extended their 15-game unbeaten run at Old Trafford in the Europa League, with their last defeat coming against Athletic Bilbao in 2013.
On that note, here are five talking points from the game.
#5 Why was Bruno Fernandes risked by Manchester United?
Manchester United's comfortable 4-0 victory in the first leg rendered Thursday night's game nothing but a mere formality.
Bruno Fernandes has been nothing short of brilliant since joining Manchester United last year. He once again starred at the Anoeta last week with a well-taken brace.
The return fixture offered the 26-year-old the rare opportunity of a rest, but an injury to Donny Van de Beek meant that Solskjaer was light on options in the middle.
Nevertheless, the Manchester United manager could have still found a workable solution that did not involve risking Fernandes in a dead rubber fixture.
With the tie all but decided in the first leg, priority should have been placed on bettering the club's position in the Premier League.
There was practically no reason why Fernandes started the game, thereby increasing the risk of him picking up an unneccessary injury.
This season, the former Sporting Lisbon man has played a total of 2770 minutes in all competitions.
Fernandes once again highlighted his importance to Manchester United and was arguably their best player in his 45 minutes on the field.
However, Solskjaer took an unneccesary risk by starting his most important player in an inconsequential game.
#4 Mikel Oyarzabal's rare penalty miss
Throughout his career, Mikel Oyarzabal has made a name for himself as one of the most accurate penalty takers in Europe.
The 23-year-old scored the first 16 penalties of his career, which is more than any other La Liga player had managed since 2015-2016. However, he fluffed his lines in the penalty shootout defeat to Barcelona in the Spanish Super Cup - his first miss from 12 yards.
His penalty record from open play still remained intact as he scored two more spot-kicks to bring his total to 18.
However, he blasted wide against Manchester United - the first penalty miss of his career in regular time.
He also became the first opposition player to miss a spot-kick at Old Trafford since Leighton Baines (Everton) in October 2014. The last player to miss from the spot at the venue in an European competition was Danielle De Rossi ( AS Roma) way back in 2007.
If he had scored, the dynamics of the game might have changed, but the Real Sociedad captain made the wrong type of history against Manchester United.
#3 Shola Shoretire makes history for Manchester United
The Manchester United academy is one of the highest-rated in the world and it has continued a legacy of producing first-team stars for over seven decades.
The current senior team is replete with players such as Mason Greenwood, Scott McTominay, and Marcus Rashford, who made their start at Carrington.
One of the biggest prospects in the current academy set-up is Shola Shoretire. The 17-year-old made his debut for Manchester United when he came off the bench to replace Marcus Rashford in the 88th minute of their 3-1 win over Newcastle last weekend.
He made his second appearance for the club, again as a substitute, coming on for the final 12 minutes against Sociedad.
Aged 17 years and 23 days, Shoretire became the youngest player to ever represent the Red Devils in Europe.
#2 Poor Real Sociedad fail to turn up
Real Sociedad's dire display on home turf last week rendered the return fixture a mere formalitiy.
Although even bigger deficits have been overturned in the past, it wasn't to be for Imanol Alguacil's men, as they failed to bring their A-game to Old Trafford.
Despite having some quality attackers such as Oyarzabal, Alexander Isak, and former Manchester United man Adnan Januzaj in their rank, the visitors failed to make their presence felt at an empty Old Trafford.
They did not give themselves a fighting chance, failing to register a shot on target until the 86th minute.
It was a rather poor outing, considering what was at stake and the quality of players on display.
#1 Anthony Martial once again misfires as the focal point of attack
Not long ago, many opined that Anthony Martial's best position was as a center-forward, and the view was seemingly shared by Solskjaer.
The Manchester United manager sanctioned the sale of Romelu Lukaku to build his attack around Martial.
However, two years down the line, the project is yet to truly kick off despite several false dawns.
Having fallen off the radar in recent months, this game against Real Sociedad offered Anthony Martial an excellent opportunity to remind everyone of his abilities, but he failed to take it.
The Frenchman was largely on the peripheries for most of the game. Although he did force Remiro into a save midway through the second-half.
His latest blank means that the Manchester United number 9 has just seven goals from 32 games in all competitions this season. A far from ideal record for a man expected to lead the line.
