Will Spurs Break the Jinx Or Red Devils Keep Their Undefeated Run Alive? Questions Ahead of Man United vs Tottenham Europa League 2024-25 Final
It’s a Final, neither team can afford to lose. The stakes have never been this high as Manchester United clash with Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the Europa League. The match will be on May 21, at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain. The winners can look forward to Champions League football for the 2025-26 season, while the losers are left staring at the worst ever campaign in its history.
Of all the 72 teams that started the 2024-25 European club competitions this season, Manchester United are the only side yet to taste defeat, which seems an unbelievable stat. Especially for a team that has lost 11 of its 22 games under manager Ruben Amorim and is currently 16th on the Premier League 2024-25 table.
Despite keeping just 3 clean sheets and conceding 18 goals in 14 matches, the Red Devils have slowly but magnanimously glided to yet another European final, scoring 35 goals (2.5 per match) in the process.
Man United’s tournament that started on a slow note with three successive draws, against Twente (1-1), Porto (3-3) and Fenerbahce ( 1-1), suddenly burst to life with five successive victories, propelling them to automatic qualification. The next oppositions were tougher. Yet, Manchester United grew stronger, effortlessly putting 5 past Sociedad(1-1, 4-1) over 2 legs and 7 past Athletic Bilbao (3-0, 4-1) on aggregate.
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Standing in its way is a Tottenham Hotspur side who are Hungry and not afraid to ‘Bite’ as defender Micky Van de Ven highlights:
“Everybody goes to Bilbao to win a trophy
Everything can happen in a final but we’re not going there with fear,”
Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur Europa League Final Preview:
Man United’s History in competition has been very impressive. This will be their ninth major European final, with only Liverpool (15) reaching more among English clubs. However, they have failed to win three of their last four such finals, versus Barcelona in the 2008-09 and 2010-11 Champions League, and Villarreal in the 2020-21 Europa League, winning the other 2-0 against Ajax in the 2016-17 Europa League.
As for the Spurs, The last time the team lifted a major silverware was 17 years and 86 days ago as Juande Ramos helped spurs beat Chelsea in the EFL Cup final 2008, Tottenham Hotspur unlike Manchester United have never tasted success on the European stage with a memorable run in the Champions league ending in defeat to Liverpool in the final its most memorable European exchange.
It is the most recent meetings between both sides that will worry Manchester United ahead of the clash, as they have lost thrice against Tottenham this season, once in the EFL Cup (4-3) and twice in the league (3-0 away, 1-0 home). The last opponent to suffer 4 consecutive losses against Tottenham was Manchester City in the 1992-93 season, while the last side to inflict 4 consecutive defeats on Manchester United is Everton
It is this supposed European Naivety and Manchester United’s rich history in European finals that experts believe will give Manchester United the edge in this tie, even though Opta believes Tottenham Hotspur are slight favorites to lift the Europa League with a 50.3 per cent chance while Manchester United have a 49.7 per cent chance of success.
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Manager’s Previous Cup Success
Ruben Amorim could become only the third manager to win a major trophy in his first season at Manchester United since Jose Mourinho and Erik Ten Hag, even though he admits winning a trophy does not solve the long-term issues at the club. Amorim has managed in 7 cup finals, winning 4 and losing 3.
Ange Postecoglou, earlier this season, revealed he has won trophies in his second season at clubs he has managed. The Australian has been involved in 7 cup finals, winning 6 and losing just one, with a win percentage of 85.7
Fans can Expect an end to end game as Manager Ange Postecoglu is known for his High Octane attacking football pinning the opponent in their half and given Manchester united 5-3-2 system we could be seeing a match with high Turnover situations which would be favourable for Manchester United who have had more shots following high turnovers (23) but Tottenham follow closely with Tottenham 22 in this seasonâs Europa League, and the Red Devils are also joint top in the 2024-25 tournament for direct attacks.
Man United vs Tottenham Europa League 2024-25 Final Verdict
The question is interesting with both sides with different recent forms. Man United is undefeated, but their recent results against Tottenham Hotspur are not encouraging. Tottenham, on the other hand, are yet to win a mega title and flattered in the finals.
Yet, Manchester United could end the game as winners. Reason? They have shown the ‘Never Say Die’ character on several occasions (Lyon, Porto, Athletic Bilbao, Sociedad) this season in the Europa League. They also remain undefeated with an awful number of goals. Tottenham could play right into the hands of the Red Devils with uncontrolled attacking football. On paper, Manchester United appears the as a better-composed team with a formation that helps control the opponent even more. 3-2 to Manchester UnitedÂ
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