Alejandro Garnacho shoots at goal
United and Spurs are 16th and 17th respectively in the Premier League table
The Europa League will crown its lowest-ranked winner since the competition was rebranded in 2009-10 when Manchester United play Tottenham Hotspur this week.
Tottenham are 17th in the Premier League, one place above the relegation zone. Manchester United are just one place higher.
Previously, the most lowly winner of the Europa League was Sevilla who won the tournament in 2023 despite finishing 12th in La Liga. Fulham lost the final in 2010 after finishing 12th in the Premier League, but no team has ever finished lower in their domestic league and reached the final of the Europa League.
When is the Europa League final?
The Europa League final is on Wednesday, May 21, with a kick-off time of 8pm for British viewers.
The final will take place before the Premier League season wraps up, but both sides have a five-day turnaround from their Premier League obligations. Spurs were granted permission to bring forward their visit to Aston Villa to Friday, May 16, which was the same day Manchester United travelled to Chelsea. Villa beat Tottenham 2-0 while Chelsea beat United 1-0.
Where to watch the Europa League final on TV
The final will be broadcast on TNT Sports in the UK.
Where will it take place?
The game will be at San Mamés, where Athletic Bilbao play their home matches in La Liga.
General view of San Mames
San Mames in Bilbao, where Manchester United played in the semi-final, hosts the final on May 21.
Match tickets
Both teams have 14,770 tickets available for the final which means there were strict criteria for fans just to be in the ballot for a chance to get a seat at San Mamés.
Those in the ballot for United were season-ticket holders and executive club members – but they needed a European away credit from the past three years. Season-ticket holders who went through the club for their ticket to be resold for a match were not in the ballot.
Spurs opened their ballot to season-ticket holders and premium members with a deadline the morning after they sealed their place in the final with a win against Bodo/Glimt. They had to start the application process before their place was booked, as the turnaround was so quick between semi-final and final.
Team news
For Tottenham Hotspur, Dejan Kulusevski has been ruled out and has undergone surgery on a knee injury.
The news comes as a huge blow to head coach Ange Postecoglou, after James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall were also ruled out in recent weeks.
Kulusevski injured his knee against Crystal Palace, although Postecoglou had said he hoped the Swede had only suffered a knock in the challenge with Marc Guehi that forced him off.
Dejan Kulusevski getting injured
Kulusevski damaged his knee in a challege with Marc Guehi
Have either team won the Europa League before?
Tottenham have twice won this competition in its previous guise as the Uefa Cup. In 1972 they triumphed in another all-English final, beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 over two legs thanks to a Martin Chivers first-leg double and Alan Mullery’s decisive strike in the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane.
Their second success in 1984 was more dramatic as reserve goalkeeper Tony Parks saved the crucial penalty in the shoot-out against Anderlecht to hand victory to Keith Burkinshaw’s side, again at White Hart Lane. The match went to extra time and penalties after back-to-back 1-1 draws, in which Paul Miller, in the first leg, and Graham Roberts, in the second, had scored.
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Manchester United have lifted the Europa League trophy once, in the 2016-17 season, when strikes by Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan secured a 2-0 triumph over Ajax at the Friends Arena in Stockholm. They lost the 2021 final on penalties to Villarreal.
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What happens to the winners of the Europa League?
The winners of the Europa League will automatically qualify for the 2025-26 Champions League and also face off against the Champions League winners in the 2025 Uefa Super Cup. This match will take place at the Friuli Stadium, Udine, Italy on Aug 13.
There will be no adverse consequences to United or Spurs winning the Europa League for fellow English clubs, because the two finalists will not finish in the European places awarded for the highest Premier League positions.
With the top five in the Premier League all qualifying for the Champions League this season – as a result of strong representation by the English clubs in Europe this term – there could be as many as eight Premier League clubs appearing in Uefa competition next season.
What is the prize money?
The winners of the Europa League will receive £10.95 million, while the runner-up will collect £5.9 million.
Spurs and United were both guaranteed £3.54 million for their participation in the semi-finals.
What happens to the runners-up?
There will be no European place awarded to the losing finalists.
What are the odds?
Tottenham to win: 2/1
Manchester United to win: 6/4
Draw: 12/5
Head-to-heads
Spurs and United have met three times already this season, with Tottenham triumphing on each occasion. Postecoglou’s side won their last encounter at home in February thanks to Maddison’s solitary strike.
Ruben Amorim
Ruben Amorim has lost both his meetings against Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs side
The north London club ran out 3-0 winners in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford with Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke on target against a United side who had Bruno Fernandes sent off late in the first half.
The two sides also contested a seven-goal thriller in the Carabao Cup, Spurs edging the December encounter 4-3. A Solanke double, and strikes by Kulusevski and Son Heung-min, were enough for the hosts to overcome Amorim’s side, for whom Joshua Zirkzee, Amad Diallo and Jonny Evans scored
Spurs have not been beaten by United in six matches, their last defeat coming in October 2022.
How will fans get to the Europa League final?
It will not be the easiest trip to the Basque Country, with limited direct flights from the UK to Bilbao, and each club receiving fewer than 15,000 tickets from Uefa.
By plane
As expected, direct flights from Manchester are scarce and expensive. Easyjet are running a direct flight to Bilbao on the morning of the match but it is not cheap. On the day United qualified for the final, the flight getting into Spain at lunchtime was priced at £1,513.98 return.
United fans have plenty of experience of getting to matches via other cities. Some of the palatable routes to Bilbao include flying to Bordeaux in France and driving four hours to the final, stopping off at Biarritz on the way. Toulouse is a similar drive away from Bilbao, while another option is flying to Santander on the north coast of Spain.
Spurs fans flying from London have a direct flight from Gatwick, reaching Bilbao for lunchtime sangria and tapas before the match – but the cost is a huge £1,822.98 return with Easyjet. There are indirect flights that reduce the cost, such as British Airways flying via Madrid for £816.42 return.
By train
Letting the train take the strain is a longer way to get to the final – but would save hundreds on airfares. Getting from the UK to Paris is the easy part – with regular trains departing from Kings Cross, transporting fans to the French capital in a couple of hours. From Paris to Bilbao is the longer leg, with French trains running to Hendaye – costing only around £120 one way – which is about an hour and a half from Bilbao.
By car
Driving all the way from London to Bilbao is a journey that would take 14 hours without stopping, plus plenty of petrol in the tank. It is some 1,067 miles away, but car pools can split the driving and the costs of crossing the Channel. For those setting off from Manchester, another few hours can be added.
But it is also a scenic route down the west of France, passing through Le Mans and down towards the wine region of Bordeaux.
By ferry
The gentleman’s way of travelling – and perhaps not on the radar of many fans. There is a Brittany Ferries service from Portsmouth to Bilbao and it is a reasonable £391 return. The trouble is the time it takes – this mode of transport would take a decent amount of the week. There is a ferry leaving Portsmouth on the Sunday evening before the final and it docks in Bilbao on the morning before the game. Getting back that way would mean more than three days at sea.
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