The Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur highlights a Big Midweek for Heung-min Son and Pep Guardiola.
Game to watch: Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United
Somehow, this is where we’re at. The teams 16th and 17th in the Premier League have stumbled into the Europa League final, which takes place in Bilbao on Wednesday evening. To hammer home just how s**t these two have been domestically: both have one win in their last 10 league games – that’s fewer than Leicester City, and the same as Ipswich Town.
That both are woefully out of form actually adds to the spectacle. Football, like boxing, is often at its best when it’s messy. The higher the quality, the more cagey it gets. The worse and more vulnerable the fighters, the more likely someone gets sparked. In other words: chaos incoming.
These two have already met three times this season. Spurs have won all three, with an aggregate score of 8-3. So obviously, Manchester United will win. That’s how football works, innit? Also, it’s Spurs. In a final.
For all the stick United have received post-Sir Alex Ferguson, they’ve actually won two cup finals in the last two seasons, and if you include the Community Shield and UEFA Super Cup, they’ve gone seven for 12 in finals since 2013. Spurs in that time have lost three out of three finals and have only won one trophy in the 21st century.
We all know Spurs’ pot-dodging ways, but Ange Postecoglou insisted he wins things in second seasons. It would be the least Spursy thing ever for him to deliver on that promise, and it would allow him to leave with his head held high. Lose, and it’s hard to see him managing in the Premier League again. He needs this, and Spurs need this, to end a ridiculous 17-year trophy drought.
Ruben Amorim, meanwhile, is expected to be in the Old Trafford dug-out next season, regardless of the result. But he needs this too, for the Champions League football, and the money that comes with it, to paper over the cracks of United’s worst-ever Premier League finish.
It’s hard to predict the score – but we’re willing to stick our necks out and predict plenty of chaos, mistakes, and entertainment.
Team to watch: Crystal Palace
There’s a tiny winy chance that Crystal Palace will still be hungover or half-p*ssed for Tuesday’s Premier League clash with Wolverhampton Wanderers – and who could blame them? On Saturday, they made history by winning their first-ever major trophy, and now return home to a boisterous, euphoric Selhurst Park.
It promises to be a carnival atmosphere, and you’d hope that only fuels the fire for Oliver Glasner’s side to put on a show for a fanbase still floating somewhere above south London. With European football already secured, and the pressure off, Palace can play with complete freedom – and that’s a terrifying prospect for any opponent.
Wolves have nothing left to play for beyond the moral victory of finishing above Manchester United and Spurs – which, let’s be honest, would be a laugh but hardly season-defining. They’ve also lost two on the bounce without scoring, and this might not be the occasion to turn things around.
Momentum has the potential to be everything and Palace are absolutely riding the wave
Manager to watch: Pep Guardiola
So, Pep Guardiola overthought another final. Of course he did. As a result, Manchester City have finished FA Cup runners-up two years in a row. Now that a trophyless season is confirmed, attention turns back to the Premier League – where City have a big job to do.
Bournemouth come to the Etihad to face what you’d assume will be a motivated City side, hell-bent on righting their Wembley wrongs with an emphatic performance. A win would at least help secure Champions League qualification, which is still not a done deal.
On the same weekend they lost to Crystal Palace, all of their top-five rivals – except Newcastle United – won. And it was Arsenal who beat them, ensuring City now need a miraculous goal swing and for the Gunners to lose to actual Southampton on the final day to sneak second place.
That particular target – and the hilarious prospect of Arsenal finishing third in a two-horse race behind City again – can be forgotten. The focus for Guardiola now is to get a reaction.
Expect changes. To what extent, who knows? Matheus Nunes at right-back wouldn’t be a surprise. Ilkay Gundogan or Nico Gonzalez could come in to add some midfield steel, and Kevin De Bruyne will surely keep his place after being the only City player to show up at Wembley.
Guardiola looked rattled after being out-tacticed by Oliver Glasner, though he did take time to congratulate Palace on their first major trophy in 119 years. But a Dean Henderson masterclass, plus a slice of luck, clearly p**sed Pep off – and honestly, who could blame him after the Palace goalkeeper got away with a red card?
That’s history now. The only priority is preparing his side for a must-win game. Fail to beat Bournemouth, and suddenly that final-day trip to Fulham starts to look a lot more sticky.
Player to watch: Heung-min Son
Several Spurs players have the chance to win their first major trophy on Wednesday – and Heung-min Son is one of them. That might come as a surprise, considering his world-class ability over much of the last decade, but it makes perfect sense: he’s spent 11 years at Tottenham Hotspur.
And no, we’re not counting the Asian Games he won with South Korea’s Under-23s at the age of 26. He got military exemption for that – and that’s plenty, Clive.
It’s remarkable that a player of Son’s calibre has won diddly squat in his club career, and even more so that he’s stayed at Spurs for so long. But a win against Manchester United would make that loyalty worth it.
Son needs this – to justify his decision to stay, and to give his CV something it badly lacks. But right now, Spurs need him more than ever. In a season full of underwhelming performances, Postecoglou is without his two main playmakers in Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, meaning much of the creative burden now falls on the South Korean.
It’s been a disappointing campaign for both player and club – but there’s hope that Son’s superstar quality could finally shine through to deliver Spurs’ first major trophy since 2008.