By any measure, it hasn’t been a good season for either Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur. The Red Devils began the season with Erik Ten Hag in charge but fired him after a disappointing start to the season, and Ruben Amorim has not fared much better. Spurs, meanwhile, have not found much success in their second season under Ange Postecoglou. Both teams are on pace for their worst Premier League finishes ever, with United sitting 15th and Tottenham 16th, although both are easily safe from relegation thanks to the ineptitude of Ipswich Town, Leicester City, and Southampton.
But while we sometimes scoff at Premier League fans for claiming that no other league can compare to these, it’s true that in the Europa League, United and Spurs don’t have to face off against Liverpool, Arsenal, or even Brighton every week. Olympiacos and Bodø/Glimt, as tremendous as the latter’s run to the semifinals was, simply aren’t as talented as the top-level sides in England’s domestic competition. That’s not to mention the bottom of the table; Azerbaijani side Qarabağ, who Spurs beat 3-0 in the opening week of the competition, have a total squad value of 22.25 million Euros, while Tottenham’s players are worth 836.1 million Euros and even Southampton’s 273.6 million.
It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that a Premier League club will win the Europa League, even with how bad these two squads have been domestically.
All things considered, they’ve each made an easy run of the competition so far, with United invincible and Spurs having lost just twice. AZ Alkmaar presented the biggest challenge to Spurs, who needed a 74th-minute winner from Wilson Odobert in order to make it through their Round of 16 tie, and a Dominic Solanke penalty in the 43rd minute of the second leg against Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarters was enough to take down Germany’s surprise package. Lyon nearly ended the Red Devils’ run in a scintillating quarterfinal second leg, but Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo and Harry Maguire saved the team at the death.
Comparatively, the semifinals were a breeze, as Fernandes recorded a brace before halftime of the first leg for United at Athletic Bilbao and Solanke’s 61st minute spot kick claimed a third goal for Spurs at home to Bodø/Glimt, sealing the losers’ fate. Each team put up a convincing win in the second leg — 4-1 for United and 2-0 for Spurs — to arrive at the title game in style. Fernandes is the competition’s joint-top scorer with seven goals, while André Onana also ranks eighth in saves.
The English giants will face off on May 21st at the San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, the home arena of Athletic Club. They’ll be joined in a European final by Chelsea, which outlasted Swedish outfit Djurgården, 5-1 on aggregate, to reach the UEFA Conference League final.
