Gary Neville has praised former Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou, predicting he could complete an “unbelievable achievement” at Tottenham Hotspur by winning the Europa League against his own club Manchester United.
An all-England final in Bilbao on Wednesday 21 May will see new betting sites UK busy as both sets of supporters look to back their team in the Europa League final and win a few quid to help pay for their trip to the beautiful Basque city.
The former United captain, now pundit, shared his thoughts on Postecoglou and Tottenham’s chances of winning the trophy at San Mames in Bilbao during a discussion on the It’s Called Soccer podcast ahead of last night’s two second leg matches that saw both Manchester United and Tottenham earn their spots in the Europa League final.
“It’s massive,” Neville said. “Ange did promise us a trophy in his second season. [If he wins it] It is going to be the biggest middle finger in English football history, and do you know something? I think I will join him on that one! I think it would be amazing!
“But the problem he has is that he is playing my team, so he can’t win. If he does what he has done in his first two seasons and wins the Europa League… look, I still think there is still an element of Tottenham have made their mind up already [about him as manager]. I feel that.
“But I mean it would be an unbelievable achievement for him if he got Champions League for Tottenham and if he was to beat Manchester United in the final.”
Postecoglou’s Tottenham team took a 3-1 advantage over Bodo/Glimt following a fine first leg at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. They put in a competent performance in Arctic Circle last night winning 2-0 and becoming the first side in 2025 to stop the Norwegian champions scoring on their own plastic pitch.
Ange knew all about the dangers of the Arctic Circle having been defeated 2-0 by Bodo/Glimt and 5-1 on aggregate three years ago with Celtic in the Conference League play-offs. The 59 year-old this time was on the right end of a 5-1 aggregate win to book Tottenham’s place in the final
Rubin Amorim’s Manchester United also found themselves in a strong position after defeating Ernesto Valverde’s Athletic Club 3-0 in Bilbao last week, the same city that will host this month’s final. Athletic Club pulled one back at Old Trafford but that was as good as it got for the conquerers of theRangers with Manchester United running out 4-1 winners on the night.