The May match between the 16th and 17th teams in the Premier League rankings often does not attract much attention. But the UEFA Europa League final in San Mames, Bilbao, is extremely important for both Tottenham and Manchester United.
Having not won any titles since the Carabao Cup in 2008, Spurs are eager to win. Coach Ange Postecoglou has had a difficult season and his future is still uncertain.
However, ending Tottenham's title drought will make things easier for the Australian strategist.
Ruben Amorim was less optimistic, describing his Man United team as the worst team in the club's history. The winning team in San Mames will qualify for the UEFA Champions League in the 2025-2026 season, with a financial reward giving Amorim the opportunity to promote the process of rebuilding Man United.
This will be the sixth All-England final in the history of UEFA club competitions. No country has had as many finals between their two clubs (Italy and Spain each have 5).
This will be the third match with Tottenham, who beat Wolves 3-2 in the UEFA Cup final in 1972 and lost 0-2 to Liverpool in the Champions League final in 2019.
And since the Europa League was renamed in 2009, this will be the fourth final between the two sides of the same country, following 2011 ( porto 1-0 Braga), 2012 (Atletico Madrid 3-0 Athletic Bilbao) and 2019 (Ch Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal).
By the time the final took place, it had been 17 years and 86 days since Spurs last won the title by winning the Carabao Cup. Meanwhile, their last major European title came in the 1983-84 UEFA Cup, 40 years and 363 days ago.
The win over Man United would see them become the second English club to win the UEFA Cup/Europa League three times, behind Liverpool, while only Sevilla (7) have won more than three times.
In contrast to their disastrous form in the Premier League, the "Red Devils" had an exciting journey to the Europa League final. The spectacular 7-6 final win over Lyon in the quarter-finals was a highlight.
Man United have scored 35 goals in the Europa League this season. The teams that have scored more goals in a UEFA Cup/Europa League campaign are Borussia Monchengladbach in the 1972-1973 season (36), Porto in the 2010-11 season (37) and Chelsea in the 2018-2019 season (36).
The Red Devils are still the only team unbeaten in European competitions this season, having won nine and drawn five of their 14 Europa League games.
Amorim could become the third manager to win a major trophy in his first season in charge of Man United, after Jose Mourinho in 2016 2017 (Carabao Cup and Europa League) and Erik ten Hag in 2022-23 (Carabao Cup).
Score prediction
According to Opta, Tottenham is currently the strongest candidate to lift the Europa League trophy with a 50.3% chance of winning compared to 49.7% for Man United.
Predicted result: Tottenham 2-3 Man United
The match between Tottenham and Man United takes place at 2:00 am on May 22 (Vietnam time).
