Already today, May 21, the winner of the Europa League will be determined at the "Estadio San Mamés" stadium in Bilbao, Spain. In the final, the English "Tottenham" and "Manchester United" will meet. This match will also be crucial, as it will allow not only to "take" the trophy, but also to get into the next season's Champions League, given the results of both teams in the current English Premier League season, writes UNN.
Today, the first winner of the European Cup trophy - the Europa League Cup, for which "Tottenham" and "Manchester United" will compete, will be determined. Both teams are not impressive with their results this season, as evidenced by the tournament position of both in the English Premier League.
"Tottenham" is located in 4th place from the end in the EPL, and "MU" is in 5th place from the end, ahead of "Spurs" by one point.
"Tottenham"
The London team entered the Europa League thanks to the 5th place in the 2023/2024 EPL season, which allows them to enter the group stage of the Europa League directly.
Road to the final
This year, the concept of holding the group stage of European Cups was changed. Instead of 8 groups, as before, only one group was created, in which 36 teams participated. "Tottenham" confidently passed the group stage, taking 4th place in the table - 5 wins, two draws, one loss.
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Interestingly, "Tottenham" is the first winner of the UEFA Cup (formerly the Europa League), and in general, "Spurs" have won the UEFA Cup twice - in the 1971/1972 and 1983/1984 seasons.
Thanks to the 4th place in the group, the club from North London immediately reached the 1/8 finals, where they met the Dutch "AZ".
In the first match, the Dutch team won - 1:0, and the only goal in that match was scored by "Tottenham" midfielder Lucas Bergvall into his own net.
Already in the return match, "Tottenham" successfully dealt with "AZ", gaining a confident victory - 3:1. Wilson Oduber scored a double, and James Maddison scored another goal. For "AZ", Per Kopmeiners scored.
In the 1/4, "Tottenham" faced the German "Eintracht". In the first match, the teams "drew" - 1:1. "Eintracht" forward Hugo Ekitike opened the scoring in the 6th minute, and 20 minutes later, "Spurs" крайній defender Pedro Porro equalized.
In the return match, "Tottenham", thanks to a goal by Dominic Solanke from the penalty spot, won a minimal victory over the German club and reached the 1/2 finals.
In the semi-finals, "Tottenham" faced a sensation team - the Norwegian "Bude/Glimt", but a miracle did not happen - in the first match, the Londoners confidently defeated the Norwegians - 3:1. Brennan Johnson, James Maddison and Dominic Solanke scored. "Bude/Glimt" managed only a prestige goal, which was scored by Ulrik Saltnes.
In the return match, "Tottenham" confidently dealt with the Norwegians - 2:0. Solanke and Porro scored.
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"Manchester United"
It is worth starting with the fact that "MU" could not even get into the Europa League group. In the 2023/2024 EPL season, the "Red Devils" took only 8th place, which did not allow them to get into European Cups, but everything changed on May 25, 2024, at "Wembley", when "MU" beat their sworn enemy "Manchester City" - 2:1 in the FA Cup final, which allowed Eric ten Haag's team to play in the Europa League group stage.
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Road to the final
In the group, "Manchester United" took third place, passing the group stage without defeats - 5 wins and 3 draws. As with "Tottenham", "Mancunians" went straight to the 1/8, where they met "Real Sociedad".
The first match ended in a draw - 1:1. First, "MU" forward Joshua Zirkze opened the scoring, and Mikel Oyarzabal equalized from the penalty spot.
Already in the return match, "Manchester United" confidently dealt with the Spaniards, although they were losing during the match. First, Oyarzabal put "Real Sociedad" ahead from the penalty spot, and then the captain of the "Reds" Bruno Fernandes came on the scene, who scored a hat-trick, and Diego Dalot scored another goal.
In the quarter-finals, "MU" faced the French "Lyon". The first match ended in a боевой draw - 2:2. "Lyon" striker Thiago Almada opened the scoring first, and at the end of the first half, Leni Yoro equalized on the scoreboard.
Two minutes before the end of the main match, Zirkze put his team ahead, and in the 5th added minute, "Lyon" midfielder Ryan Sherky equalized.
In the return match, a real drama unfolded. The teams scored as many as 9 goals between them. "Manchester" led 2:0 until the end of the first half thanks to goals from Manuel Ugarte and Dalot. In the second half, "Lyon" managed to equalize - goals were scored by Corentin Tolisso and Nico Tagliafico.
Already in the third half, thanks to Sherky's goal, "Lyon", who were playing in the minority, went ahead. In 5 minutes, Alexandre Lacazette doubled the advantage of the French and cast doubt on "MU"'s passage further.
However, the "Red Devils" managed to turn the course of the match upside down - first Fernandes reduced the gap for his team from the penalty spot, in 6 minutes Kobbie Mainoo equalized, and a minute later Harry Maguire put his team ahead. The final whistle fixes the victory of "Manchester" - 5:4.
In the semi-finals, "MU" meets "Athletic" from Bilbao. This confrontation was crucial for the Spaniards, because the final of the tournament will be held at the "Athletic" stadium "Estadio San Mamés".
But a miracle does not happen. In the first match, "Manchester" confidently deals with "Athletic" - 3:0. Casemiro scored, and Fernandes scored a double.
The return match is similar to the first match, because in this match "MU" confidently defeats the Spaniards - 4:1 and reaches the final. Mason Mount scored a double and Casemiro and Rasmus Guilen scored one goal each. For "Athletic", Mikel Hauregizar scored the only goal.
As mentioned above, although "MU" does not shine with results in the EPL, the "Red Devils" are the only team in Europe that has never lost in European Cups.
In the last 10 years, "MU" has played in the Europa League final twice. In the 2016/2017 season, José Mourinho's team beat "Ajax" in the final - 2:0, and in the 2020/2021 season final, they lost to the Spanish "Villarreal" in a penalty shootout.
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Before the match
The match at the "Estadio San Mamés" stadium starts at 22:00 Kyiv time. The broadcast of the match will be available on the MEGOGO media service with a subscription to Sport, Maximum, Maximum + charity, MEGOPACK XL.
The teams approach the match in different moods. "Manchester" coach Ruben Amorim stated that for a club like "Manchester United" this season is still a failure and apologized for the team's results.
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Ange Postecoglou, coach of "Tottenham", on the contrary, believes that despite the failure in the championship, winning the Europa League can bring joy and the coveted trophy for "Spurs".
Victory in the tournament also has additional motivation, because it will allow not only to take the coveted trophy, but also to break into the Champions League, in which both teams are no longer able to get through the tournament position in the EPL.
"We had a lot of setbacks this season. We have to admit that. Even in Europe in the early stages, we sometimes had to release young people in away matches and achieve results. We faced difficulties all year, which were mainly related to injuries. In European Cup matches, the guys clearly understood what to do. They did not allow the noise and other things to distract themselves from the opportunity to do something special in Europe. From the very first day, we believed that we could successfully perform in this tournament. And I must say that this faith was tested throughout our journey to this final," Postecoglou said before the final.
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He noted that the main thing for the team is to carefully prepare for the final.
"We will face "MU" at the peak of its form. Good preparation gives a chance. You can't rely on what worked in previous matches. Then you can get a false idea that you already know what will be needed on the day of the game. In the final, we have to play powerfully as a team to defeat such a strong opponent. If this does not work, success will not be achieved," the coach noted.
Amorim said on the eve of the final that his team is not going to win only at the expense of "physics".
"Regardless of the results of our past meetings with "Tottenham", the very fact that we played with them this season helps me to prepare. And I can help my players. It will be very difficult. We are not going to win only at the expense of "physics". For example, in the matches against "Real Sociedad" we knew that its players are very good technically, they have a very dynamic style. But I knew that during the game with an emphasis on "physics" we would be more comfortable. In this case, the situation is different, but we will be ready. I think it would be very important for the fans (winning the final - ed.). For our fans. They need this victory, because after that they will look at the coach differently, because it will mean for them a return to the Champions League," Amorim noted.
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It should be noted that in the current season "Tottenham" and "MU" met three times, and in all cases Postecoglou's team celebrated the victory.
It is also worth noting that the teams approach the match with serious losses. "Manchester" will not be helped in the final by Dalot, Matthijs De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Yoro and Zirkze.
Bergvall, Radu Dragusin, Dejan Kulusevski, Maddison, Sergio Regilon and Timo Werner will definitely not play for "Tottenham".
Bookmakers give a slight victory to "Manchester United", on whose victory in regular time you can bet with a coefficient of - 2.5. On the victory of "Tottenham" in regular time - 2.9. On the fact that "Tottenham" will win the Europa League - 2.1, and on the fact that "MU" will take the trophy - 1.8.
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