Man Utd take on Tottenham in the Europa League final on Wednesday night
Manchester United huddle ahead of the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and United FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on February 16, 2025
There will be two survivors from Manchester United's last Europa League final victory when Ruben Amorim's side face Tottenham on Wednesday - but both lined up against the Reds eight years ago.
United beat Ajax 2-0 in 2017 with goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Jose Mourinho's side were good value for that win but such has been the player turnover at Old Trafford that none of the United squad travelling to Spain this week were at the club when they last tasted European success.
Indeed the two players on the pitch that night in Stockholm who could be again against Spurs wore the red and white of Ajax. Andre Onana and Matthijs De Ligt were part of a Dutch side who by their own admission froze on the big occasion.
United were comfortable winners and Onana, reflecting on that final, admitted the Reds had won the game in the tunnel.
“We lost before the game was due to be played. Out of fear," said the current United number one who will start against Spurs with De Ligt hopeful of featuring but still an injury doubt.
"When we arrived in Stockholm I called Edwin van der Sar, I was not feeling well. I told him I didn’t want to play.
“Edwin replied by saying I'm too old and didn’t bring gloves, you’re going to play.
(Top Row L-R) Davinson Sanchez of Ajax, Kasper Dolberg of Ajax, Jairo Riedewald of Ajax, Matthijs de Ligt of Ajax, Bertrand Traore of Ajax, goalkeeper Andre Onana of Ajax
(Front row L-R) Joel Veltman of Ajax, Hakim Ziyech of Ajax, Lasse Schone of Ajax, Davy Klaassen of Ajax, Amin Younes of Ajaxduring the UEFA Europa League final match between Ajax Amsterdam and Manchester United
“Amin Younes came up to me in the tunnel. He was one of the most important players we had at the time. He was shocked by the size of the arms of his direct opponent, Antonio Valencia. He said: 'Phew, I can’t play against him.”
“On the morning of the game, seven players were sick. We were still very young.”
Onana and De Ligt will be hoping to be on the winning side in Bilbao this time around. The competition's importance to United has grown by the round this season and victory over Spurs would salvage a woeful campaign and hand Ruben Amorim's side a place in the Champions League.
That is also the exact scenario facing Ange Postecoglou's men and sets up an intriguing contest that will be played with huge pressure on both sides.
Onana, now 25, believes he has learned from the experiences of that 2019 final and hopes to be lifting the trophy come Wednesday night.
“I lost against them so I have to win for them," he said speaking earlier this season. "Now, we have a bit more experience. We know the competition. We can read the games. We know when to play long, when to play short, we can feel it.
“It's a different time. A lot of time has passed already, so we'll be ready.”