On May 21, 2025, San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, will host a monumental clash in European football: Tottenham Hotspur will face Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League final. This matchup is very significant for both teams. Surprisingly, Tottenham and Man United are currently placed in 17th and 16th place in the Premier League. The winner gets to participate in the Champions League next season, while the loser gains nothing but a poor result.
Tottenham Hotspur:
The recent head-to-head matches against Manchester United have been an absolute dominance. This is probably the data that Tottenham can rely on the most at the moment. Under Ange Postecoglou, Tottenham has an overwhelming advantage with 4 wins and 1 draw in the last 5 matches against Manchester United, with a goal difference of +7.
Although they are ranked very low in the league at 17th, Tottenham is strangely showing a similar level of scoring to the top Champions League teams. Even the three main attackers, Son Heung-min, Dominic Solanke, and Brennan Johnson, all show a balance in scoring, which is very comforting for Tottenham.
The biggest weakness is that James Maddison, the team's key player, is out for the season due to injury and cannot play in the final. Lucas Bergvall, who was also selected as a starting player this season, is also out for the season and cannot play. In particular, both of these players are midfielders, and the midfielders' power loss has become serious. In addition, captain Son Heung-min has missed seven consecutive official matches since suffering a foot injury in the first leg of the Europa League quarterfinals on April 11. He is able to play in the final, but his performance may not be as good as it was before the injury.
Manchester United:
Manchester United is undefeated in the Europa League this season with 9 wins and 5 draws, and is the only team to maintain an undefeated record among the 32 teams participating in this competition. Their overall record is also good with 9 wins, 5 draws, 35 goals scored, and 18 goals conceded.
Bruno Fernandes, currently considered Manchester United's ace, has appeared in 13 games in the Europa League this season, scoring 7 goals and 4 assists, and is in excellent form, recording the most goals in the Europa League this season among players from both teams that advanced to the final. In addition, since he is currently tied for the top scorer in the 2024-25 Europa League, there is a possibility that he will be the sole top scorer depending on his performance in the final.
Manchester United have shown overwhelming attack in this Europa League tournament, but their defense is the exact opposite. They have conceded goals in 11 of 14 games, and have conceded 18 goals in those 11 games. There have been countless games throughout the season where they have conceded goals easily and had a hard time keeping up, so the key point in the final is to not concede goals as much as possible, and even if they do concede goals, to be able to offset them with their powerful attack as before.
In the case of both teams, for similar but different reasons, they are in a situation where they are desperate to win the Europa League, and in a situation where the league is ruined in an unprecedented way, the only way for both to advance to next season's European competition is to win the final. The losing team will end the season by falling below 15th place, which was unimaginable just a few years ago, and it will be the worst season without a single trophy. Above all, since both teams are in a miserable state of overall club management, in the worst-case scenario, they will have to prepare for a relegation battle in the 2025-26 season.
