The Independent

One of the largest clubs in the world has reached the Europa League final. Furnished with one of the biggest budgets in the game, in a year when their transfer outlay exceeded £230m, they arguably started the Europa League as favourites, finished third in the group stage, and are the only unbeaten side in all three European competitions.

It makes it sound simple. Manchester United being Manchester United, it has not been. The 16th side in the Premier League face Spurs, the team in 17th, in the Bilbao showpiece. United were 21st in the Europa League when they sacked Erik ten Hag. They have had three managers on their route to the final, trailed to teams from Portugal, Norway, Czechia and France. Harry Maguire has a 91st-minute equaliser and a 121st-minute winner. They have left it late to secure victory against Viktoria Plzen and Rangers, even later to beat Lyon. They have flirted with ignominy time and again and stand on the brink of triumph.

They have contrived to be everything they are not in England: in Europe, they are a team who never lose and who can find a way to win – a prolific side. The bare facts are that United have 18 goals in their last five Europa League games, more than they have scored in their last four months in the Premier League. All that, when they contrived to omit their finest striking prospect, Chido Obi, from their European squad.

But then the dramatic finale against Lyon came courtesy of pseudo strikers: Kobbie Mainoo and Maguire, a midfielder and a defender thrown up front and, some might say, finishing better than the specialist forwards. That was just the second 5-4 victory in United’s history. The first was earned by the Busby Babes, in the final game on English soil in 1958. The second came courtesy of a rather lesser team.

But, while they have been mired in a historically bad domestic season, United have offered some of the right echoes of their past in Europe. The late goals, the comebacks, the drama that all contributed to the mystique of the club have been reserved for Thursday nights.

But the final, like their opener, is on a Wednesday. It was a false start against Ten Hag’s hometown club, FC Twente, at Old Trafford. “It’s not nice to have to hurt the ones you love,” the Dutchman said. Although, really, United were hurt more, in part by their own inadequacies after allowing Twente right back Bart van Rooij to run 50 yards, past a host of Ten Hag’s players, in the build-up to Sam Lammers’s equaliser.

When Ten Hag was dismissed, he had a 100 per cent record in the Europa League: three games, three draws. Should United beat Tottenham, Bruno Fernandes ought to be named the player of the tournament – so far, no one has more goals and only two players have more assists – but he had an inauspicious start, too, with a red card in his native Portugal against Porto. None of which fully explains why, when Ten Hag unveiled his replacement as a No 10 against Fenerbahce, it was a suitably surprised full back, Noussair Mazraoui.

So the caretaker Ruud van Nistelrooy oversaw United’s belated first win, against PAOK. Ruben Amorim’s record in this competition, at least, is excellent: eight wins out of 10, with creditable draws away against Real Sociedad and Lyon. It does not tell the whole story, though.

United scored in the first minute of his European bow, through Alejandro Garnacho against Bodo/Glimt, and yet found themselves losing. They were behind to Viktoria Plzen, too. They were rescued by back-to-back braces by Rasmus Hojlund who, like Christian Eriksen and Diogo Dalot, has more goals in the Europa League than the Premier League this season. Jack Butland, signed by United in 2023, scored for them, although as he is now the Rangers goalkeeper and punched a corner into his own net, it was an embarrassing mishap, rather than a cause for celebration.

The knockout stages have yielded a flurry of goals and celebrations in second legs at Old Trafford; a Fernandes hat-trick against Sociedad, a late treble of goals in seven minutes against Lyon, a burst of four in 19 against Athletic Bilbao.

There have been magical moments: Maguire’s sudden transformation into a twinkle-toed winger to set up Casemiro’s opener in the San Mames, Manuel Ugarte’s backheeled assist in Bilbao, Mason Mount’s fantastic 50-yard finish against Athletic. There was a dominant first 45 minutes at home to Lyon – as well as United have played under Amorim – and the control they exerted with a 3-0 lead in Bilbao.

There have, though, been elements of farce and fragility. Andre Onana went to Lyon branded one of the worst goalkeepers in United’s history by Nemanja Matic and blundered twice for goals. From 2-0 up and excelling in the second leg, United somehow found themselves 4-2 down at home to 10 men.

A recurring theme has been seeing opponents depleted. Both Sociedad and Athletic were unhappy with their red cards against United; some of Bilbao’s grievance lay in their belief that Garnacho had handled shortly before Dani Vivian fouled Hojlund to earn his marching orders.

It may indicate that fortune has favoured United. They can argue they earned their luck with indefatigability, moments of inspiration, and individuals delivering when it mattered – sometimes in improbable ways.

Mainoo and Maguire, like a 21st-century Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, turned rescuers. They kept United’s season going when, in each round, it had been on the brink of ending with no silver lining, no saving grace. And now they are in Bilbao, in what is otherwise a disaster of a season, closing in on a return to the Champions League.

A biography of United’s first European Cup-winning manager, Sir Matt Busby, was called A Strange Kind Of Glory. And this would be a very strange kind of European glory.

While some rival executives have literally been laughing at this “shambolic” Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, elements of it are by their own design.

The two English sides might have found it much more difficult to get to Bilbao had Juventus and Manchester City dropped down from the Champions League in the way those outside the top 16 used to, but this was one of the subjects discussed in the major negotiations between 2019 and 2021 that ultimately led to the Super League crisis.

The wealthiest clubs wanted more guarantees about qualifying for the Champions League, especially if they endured crisis seasons like United and Spurs have. Insiders insist that one reason they consequently removed the drop into the Europa League was specifically to give such clubs a clearer route back to the top.

This is now precisely what’s happening, in the first season after the changes. In other words, this is the biggest safety net possible. “It was an insurance policy,” as one prominent source puts it. “They’ve considerably weakened the Europa League.”

It is consequently not an exaggeration to describe this as perhaps the most desperate final in European history. The numbers illustrate it.

There has never been any final, in any of Uefa’s competitions, where both clubs have been so low in their domestic leagues. There’s never even been one when a club has been just above the relegation zone, like Spurs now. West Ham United were 18th when reaching the 1975-76 Cup Winners Cup final but that was in a 24-team league. The image now is even worse in how both finalists sit there, in 16th and 17th in the Premier League. Peering down at the Championship but somehow looking at the Champions League.

It’s certainly a far cry from the 1975-76 Uefa Cup final, when English champions Liverpool faced Belgian champions Brugge, a year before they met again in the European Cup final.

And yet it somehow feels even further from just last year. After that Europa League final in Dublin, when Atalanta beat Bayern Leverkusen in a grand meeting of overachievers who greatly valued the competition, Gian Piero Gasperini stirred emotions with the following.

"Winning with Atalanta is one of those footballing fairytales that rarely crop up. It gives scope for meritocracy: there is still scope for ideas and it doesn't have to come down to cold, hard money.”

This final is the total opposite.

United and Spurs have really only got here because of cold, hard money. They've been facing oppositions with mere fractions of their wage bills. Bodo/Glimt’s was estimated to be less than 1 per cent of Spurs’. Even Athletic's was around 20 per cent of United’s.

Worse than the money the two English clubs spend now is how much they've spent over the last half-decade, to even get to this point, where they somehow need even more money to try and get back to the top. We are talking about billions in Premier League revenue, even in that short a time.

As has been said on these pages before, their respective positions at fourth and ninth on the Deloitte money list mean it shouldn't actually be possible for both United and Spurs to be this bad. They might have switched off in the league, but the lights shouldn't be out altogether. In a world where there is a 90 per cent correlation between wage bill and league position, they are not just the 10% who represent aberrations but the 0.1 per cent almost representing reverse alchemy.

That sheer waste has now created this desperation, that frames this entire game. It actually looks the total opposite of what continental football should be about, let alone to Gasperini’s thoughts about “meritocracy”.

Such talk also brings another dimension, that represents a more troubling development in football. It is the extent of the game’s “financialisation”. So much is now put in terms of money; what it might mean for what next rather than just the moment. That’s exactly why Crystal Palace's FA Cup victory felt so joyfully pure.

It shouldn’t be overlooked that Spurs would value this Europa League in a comparable way, especially given all the frustration at how they haven’t won anything since 2008. Manchester United fans naturally relish the glory of still consistently winning trophies despite their trouble, and it would clearly be psychologically important for Ruben Amorim’s era. As long as it might last.

United have still won this competition as recently as 2017, though, and the dysfunction since means this is really all about the resources. It similarly can’t be overlooked that Spurs are a club where the message about Champions League finances was so deep that former manager Mauricio Pochettino became strikingly open about how he was greatly prioritising the Premier League over any cups.

Such priorities have only been deepened in the PSR era. So much of this still comes down to the potential £100m from Champions League qualification. The latter was of course only included because Uefa needed to make the competition more attractive for the most commercially powerful clubs. The grand old Uefa Cup trophy apparently wasn't enough any more.

Chris Hughton, who was the right-back for Spurs’ last Uefa Cup win in 1983-84, can’t help but remark on the difference.

“Back then, there wasn’t even a thought about money. There would have been bonuses, sure, but it was solely about the glory of it; of winning a European trophy.”

The financial gaps of the time were too small. Now, they’re immense, to the point the Europa League final is arguably the most pronounced illustration of this “financalisation” of the sport. It has probably gone beyond the Championship play-off as “the richest game in football", given the gaps in England, as well as the importance attached to the Champions League.

It is football as financial instrument, to the point that clubs now decide not to buy in January because they are looking at things in terms of differences in potential prize money rather than season ambition.

There is likely even further effect on the actual play.

Throughout this season, United’s run has seemed to show how European atmospheres can still cause teams to emotionally raise it in vintage fashion. But has that actually happened? Is it possible that United and Spurs have just played a series of clubs well below Premier League level, as illustrated in the wage gaps?

Bruno Fernandes recently revealed that Amorim expressed surprise at how competitive Ipswich Town were in his first game. The Europa League may have been well below that.

Many in Europe will respond to that by pointing to how there are again no English side in the Champions League final, but that is a competition that features most of the super clubs. Many of them utterly dominate their domestic leagues. That is just this same problem extended.

Instead, the Europa League might well display deeper strength. That is a problem for Uefa, especially with how many English clubs are going to be in Europe next season.

It may also be profoundly influential for the Premier League. This match could represent a sliding doors moment. If United win, the income could help propel them back towards the top, after so much waste. If they don’t, there could be ructions.

There are such immense stakes. It also has a considerable irony. So much comes down to the unpredictability of one football match, and that is entirely by design.

Manchester United plan to host a barbecue for players and staff at the club’s training ground if they win the Europa League this week, instead of staging an open bus parade in the city.

According to the Times, United would have little time to stage any celebrations if they defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the final in Bilbao. United will be heading off on the club’s first post-season tour, with friendlies organised in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, straight after the final weekend of the Premier League.

If successful in Bilbao, United plan to celebrate the first trophy under Ruben Amorim with a small event involving players and their families and the club’s training ground before their final game of the Premier League season against Aston Villa on 25 May.

United have not staged an open bus parade since winning their last Premier League title under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, and there were no such celebrations when they last won the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017, or when they lifted either the Carabao Cup or FA Cup under Erik ten Hag.

Newcastle United commemorated the end of their trophy drought with a celebration in the city when they lifted the Carabao Cup this season. Liverpool also plan to mark a second title in 35 years with a parade in the city on Monday 26 May, the day after they lift the title at Anfield.

Tottenham Hotspur would be expected to organise a parade in north London should Ange Postecoglou’s side win the Europa League, which would be the club’s first trophy in 17 years.

Meanwhile, the BBC have reported that Manchester United players will be limited to two free tickets each for the Europa League final, while it has also been reported that staff will not receive free tickets for the match in Bilbao.

It is 7am on Sunday morning at Gatwick airport, three days before the Europa League final, and there are already a lot of Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur shirts. Some are travelling to Bilbao this early because flights are almost a thousand pounds cheaper.

A few have friends on connections hundreds of miles in the opposite direction, through Malaga and even Marrakesh. A group are getting the 35-hour ferry from Portsmouth. Some are only in Bilbao for the game itself, due to a total lack of accommodation. Even hostels are going for £550.

Spurs fan Adam Nathan talks of "spending the best part of another season ticket to attend the game".

“Planning the trip was made difficult by the scandalous pricing of direct flights and limited accommodation,” adds Dale O’Donnell, a United fan. “We looked at all the routes, before deciding to fly to Bordeaux. We’ll leave in the early hours after the game.”

Bilbao is simply a brilliant city, as well as a brilliant football city, with a great stadium too. But its infrastructure isn't quite equipped for 80,000 fans, or more, arriving. That’s almost a quarter of its own population. Bilbao could be overwhelmed, diluting much of its good.

And while prices are always going to rise for major events, this has been up there with the worst in recent years. That's all the more remarkable given this is a trip to northern Spain.

“There is profiteering everywhere but, with so little time to book, it's just wrong that this happens every final," says Barney Chilton of the Red News fanzine. “I'm not sure what Uefa can do, but surely something. The majority get royally done over just wanting to see their team in a rare European final.”

While much of this is just “demand”, why not stage potentially mass-attended finals where there is more supply?

It certainly raises the key question of why supporters so often have to bear the cost of decisions taken way above their heads, not to mention about the nature of those decisions. Numerous sources describe host selection processes as “not very transparent”.

For Uefa’s part, there is obvious merit to spreading such showpieces around Europe. English fan groups like the Football Supporters' Association naturally agree “it's important to remember the wider continental dynamic”.

That’s all the more pointed when one view within Uefa is that "it's usually just the English clubs who complain". That's partly true, but only because their sheer sizes mean tens of thousands are always guaranteed to travel for finals. Given the Premier League’s modern strength, too, Uefa’s more noble intentions must surely be tempered by health and safety concerns as well as some duty to fan loyalty?

"Football asks so much of fans to create atmosphere, and you’re always reminded how little they care about you," Nathan says.

None of this is new, either. There was “great concern” within Uefa last year, when it became clear Dublin would have struggled with the 200,000 Liverpool fans who planned to travel for the Europa League final, and what might have been Jurgen Klopp's last game. That anxiety only rose when it looked like Rangers or West Ham United might meet them there. None of them got that far, and Dublin ended up being ideal for Atalanta and Bayer Leverkusen.

That’s the other side of this. Bilbao would have had no issue with Lyon against Eintracht Frankfurt, either. This will to spread the fixture is also deepened by the awareness that the Champions League final is now such a mega-event that there are currently probably only seven cities with the scale to stage it: London, Berlin, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon and now Budapest.

Paris has the necessary 70,000-seater stadium in St Denis, but 2022 was a near disaster so it won't be used for some time. Istanbul's Ataturk involved similar issues in 2023 and Italy doesn’t have stadiums that are modern enough. Russia has obviously dropped from potential options, too.

That leaves many cities pitching for the Europa League, which then encounters problems when its final takes on Champions League scale. Uefa obviously don’t know whether that's going to be the case in the semi-finals, let alone four years before, when the hosts are usually chosen.

Bilbao was awarded this one in a 2021 settlement, after Covid restrictions meant it was removed as a host city of Euro 2020.

There hasn’t actually been a vote for the Europa League final since 2018, which was for the 2022 showpiece in Seville. Even those are naturally conditioned by politics. Many football executives remain exasperated by how much of the game is still influenced by who gets to host what. A final can make a huge difference for a national association's leadership, which can in turn ensure loyalty to the Uefa hierarchy. Such processes, as well as the apparent lack of checks and balances amid potential clientelism, have repeatedly been questioned by reformers. Insiders similarly talk of how there often feels a "one for me, one for you” approach.

Wembley generates by far the most income, for example, even though there is little “political” benefit to giving finals to the FA. That year’s revenue then leaves other fixtures freer to be chosen for more football or political reasons. A Conference League final in Tirana encourages genuine “legacy” investment from local authorities, so the game’s infrastructure is improved. Istanbul 2023, which was initially 2020, was meanwhile seen as a political vote.

Such politics can go even deeper. Uefa love the Spurs and Arsenal stadiums, but it is the national football associations that submit bids, and the FA naturally have an interest in promoting Wembley. The Bernabeu is meanwhile unlikely to be used for some time due to Uefa's dismal relationship with Real Madrid.

All of these form reasons why Uefa insist it is impossible to move finals at short notice. There are just too many agreements and works. While many naturally point to the precedents of the 2020, 2021 and 2022 Champions League finals being moved, they were down to exceptional circumstances. Turkey’s own Covid restrictions saw Istanbul’s final switched twice, while St Petersburg was stripped of 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine.

Fan cost doesn't meet such criteria, something a little ironic when one of the arguments against moving finals is that cities themselves spend huge amounts on applications. They also require numerous agreements with local authorities, especially on security. Uefa themselves need to ensure accommodation for huge workforces, as well as sponsors. The latter is unlikely to generate much sympathy.

Even if a final was moved at short notice, though, the same venue could just have the same problem the next year.

Some in Uefa feel the clubs could charter more flights. Eintracht Frankfurt planned to do exactly that for the controversial 2019 final in Baku, only to fall short at the semi-finals. The Azerbaijani capital was one venue that did prompt more serious talk about moving the final, given the logistical difficulties Chelsea and Arsenal fans endured.

Such discussions haven’t actually happened for Bilbao. There is nevertheless an acceptance within Uefa that this is something they have to start thinking about more, especially given the strength of the Premier League.

The governing body has generally had to be more proactive, given the many self-inflicted issues through a series of finals over 2021 to 2023. Internal concerns about a loss of expertise have increased.

While such issues have calmed over the last year, there is a definite trepidation in Bilbao about the volume of fans arriving.

This needs to go well. The city deserves it, but not as much as fans who have spent so much.

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Yves Bissouma has praised head coach Ange Postecoglou for shielding the squad during a turbulent season, culminating in their Europa League final appearance.

Despite a record-breaking number of Premier League defeats, surpassing the 19 losses suffered in both the 1993-94 and 2003-04 seasons, Postecoglou has consistently refrained from blaming his players.

A significant injury crisis, spanning from November to March, undoubtedly hampered Spurs’ domestic campaign.

However, the team has rallied in the Europa League, overcoming AZ Alkmaar, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bodo/Glimt to secure a place in Wednesday's final against Manchester United. This resilience, Bissouma suggests, is a testament to Postecoglou's leadership.

“It’s never changed, never changed. We have a good relationship,” Bissouma said of Postecoglou.

“He’s like a dad or uncle for us. He’s always trying to make us understand what he really wants.

“For us, he’s Ange, he’s him. He’s got his idea. He’s trying to help us every time. It’s not easy (the style), especially at the start. We have to stick together like what we’re doing and that’s what we’re doing.”

Bissouma said the coach was “always protecting us”.

Every game when we lose or win. Like I said, he’s got a top mentality. He understands football. He knows it’s up and down. He never blames players.

“To have a coach like him is something. At the same time, with him, we are working hard.

“We want to improve every game and every training because it’s really important for us and the club. We’re all here for the club, for the same reason. It’s necessary to be together.”

Bissouma, a Mali international, played only 13 minutes of ties with AZ and Frankfurt following a string of poor displays before he starred – when Lucas Bergvall was ruled out with an ankle injury – after being required to start both matches against Bodo.

A season which started with a one-match club ban following a laughing-gas incident could finish with Bissouma being a key member of the team which ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought.

Quizzed on his laughing gas mishap, Bissouma said: “I don’t want to talk about that, sorry.

“Of course there’s more to come (from me). We are always here for learning, I’m still learning. This season has been hard for me because I didn’t play much.

“The most important thing is if the team does good. I’m here to work and when my time comes, I play.

“The only thing I know is you have to work hard and never give up and be ready when your team needs you. That’s what I’m always trying to do.

“We know what we have to do. We have to win this cup because for us, it’s really important. It’s an important game for us.

“As a player, it’s not coming every season. For the club, for the fans, it’s something special.”

Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma has paid tribute to “uncle” Ange Postecoglou for protecting the squad through tough times and guiding them to the Europa League final.

Spurs have set unwanted Premier League records this season with a worst ever tally of defeats in the division – going beyond the 19 losses they suffered in the 1993-94 and 2003-04 campaigns respectively – but Postecoglou has rarely pointed the finger at his players.

A huge injury crisis which started in November and lasted until March has played a big part, but Tottenham have put their top-flight struggles to one side to navigate knock-out ties with AZ Alkmaar, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo/Glimt to set up Wednesday’s final with Manchester United.

“It’s never changed, never changed. We have a good relationship,” Bissouma said of Postecoglou.

“He’s like a dad or uncle for us. He’s always trying to make us understand what he really wants.

“For us, he’s Ange, he’s him. He’s got his idea. He’s trying to help us every time. It’s not easy (the style), especially at the start. We have to stick together like what we’re doing and that’s what we’re doing.

“He’s always protecting us. Every game when we lose or win. Like I said, he’s got a top mentality. He understands football. He knows it’s up and down. He never blames players.

“To have a coach like him is something. At the same time, with him, we are working hard.

“We want to improve every game and every training because it’s really important for us and the club. We’re all here for the club, for the same reason. It’s necessary to be together.”

Bissouma almost perfectly encapsulates Spurs in his ability to fluctuate between bad and brilliant.

The Mali international played only 13 minutes of ties with AZ and Frankfurt following a string of poor displays before he starred – when Lucas Bergvall was ruled out with an ankle injury – after being required to start both matches against Bodo.

A season which started with a one-match club ban following a laughing-gas incident could finish with Bissouma being a key member of the team which ended Tottenham’s 17-year trophy drought.

Quizzed on his laughing gas mishap, Bissouma said: “I don’t want to talk about that, sorry.

“Of course there’s more to come (from me). We are always here for learning, I’m still learning. This season has been hard for me because I didn’t play much.

“The most important thing is if the team does good. I’m here to work and when my time comes, I play.

“The only thing I know is you have to work hard and never give up and be ready when your team needs you. That’s what I’m always trying to do.

“We know what we have to do. We have to win this cup because for us, it’s really important. It’s an important game for us.

“As a player, it’s not coming every season. For the club, for the fans, it’s something special.”

No opportunity to stoke the fires of tribalism is ever missed in the world of who can shout loudest football analysis.

It is easy for some to claim Tottenham’s season will be a successful one, and more successful than Arsenal’s, should Spurs win the Europa League and end their agonising 17-year trophy drought. Arsenal’s wait for another Premier League triumph goes on, having become bridesmaids once more, this time to Liverpool.

But taking brash wind-up claims out of it, to say that a team who have already lost 20 league games in one season and are on course to not even break the 40-point barrier – something Spurs have not done since they were relegated from the top flight in 1976-77 – has had a successful campaign is beyond wild.

The team who finished fifth last season and spent £150m to build on that progress has dropped 12 places and only is assured of their Premier League survival because the three promoted clubs were so vastly inferior this term to every other team.

A Europa League victory over another club in astonishing decline, Manchester United, will only bring short-term joy. Arsenal may have finished second again, for the third season in a row, but to remain competing for title after title, even if they miss out every time, is no mean feat, north London banter aside. Trophy or no trophy, Spurs’ season has been an embarrassment that should have already cost Ange Postecoglou his job.

Without Champions League teams dropping down into the Europa League for the latter rounds, the standard of the competition United and Spurs are vying to win to salvage some semblance of credibility this term dilutes the achievement a great deal.

Given the opposition, United and Spurs should have got to the final. Anything else would have been a failure.

Getting past Eintracht Frankfurt was arguably the result of Spurs’ season, a hard-earned second leg win the high point of Postecoglou’s reign.

Otherwise, the tasks Spurs have faced on the continent have been more than navigable. The new format gets Uefa those extra few games they feel global audiences wants – but the standard of the competition has suffered as a result.

It is not just how many games Spurs are losing, it is, like United, that they are offering no more than a whimper in each meek league defeat. Injuries decimated Postecoglou’s options earlier in the season, especially at the back, so the excuses the brash Australian was coming out with week after week held a certain credence.

While some key figures have remained on the sidelines, Postecoglou has had a strong enough squad to offer significantly more than we have seen.

Arsenal got to a semi-final of the Champions League, going toe-to-toe with arguably Europe’s most exciting side in Paris Saint-Germain, pushing them all the way.

Their Premier League title challenge petered out all too soon, with their final points record not giving a true reflection of how, once more, they came mightily close to a first league title in 21 years.

Injuries have had a huge impact on Arsenal’s campaign, too. It was not defensive absentees that hindered their progress, however, but the fact that all of their strike options found themselves in the treatment room at the same time.

And yet, the Gunners should still finish second, having been forced to deploy a defensive midfielder as their furthest player forward at the business end of the season.

There are plenty who believe Arteta’s Emirates race is run. One trophy in six seasons, after spending over £600m on players, is not the sort of record that will land him a spot among the pantheon of football coaching greats.

Yet, one major argument in Arteta’s favour is the trajectory has remained heading in one direct and one direction only. Jurgen Klopp only won one league title and is viewed as one of the greatest managers to grace our shores, due to how he kept on pushing all-conquering Manchester City year on year.

Arsenal are one or two strikers away from a title-winning side, such is the fine margin between success and glorious failure at the top level.

Postecoglou looked for excuses, instead of simply getting to grips with the task at hand. Yes, injuries hampered progress for long periods, but Spurs still had enough to at least avoid home defeats to two of the bottom three.

Spurs downed tools months ago, and no matter what glory the Europa League brings, getting out of that rut next season, with potentially Champions League football to consider, will be a monumental task. A disaster of a season may have a happy ending, but that is all it will be.

Follow live coverage as Aston Villa face Tottenham Hotspur today in the Premier League. Another top-flight season will be covered in full right here with The Independent, as reigning champions Manchester City look to make it an unprecedented five titles in a row come the end of 2024/25.

The likes of Arsenal and Liverpool will be chasing Pep Guardiola's side, but just as fascinating will be the race for Champions League places, with more teams than ever before having designs on top-four finishes. Chelsea remain big-spending, Manchester United's latest rebuild continues and both Tottenham and Newcastle will expect improvements this year - yet it was Aston Villa who snared fourth last term.

Meanwhile, it's Southampton, Leicester City and Ipswich Town who made it back to the elite after promotion last year and each will have hope they can make it more than a one-year stay. Follow the latest live action from the Premier League below:

Manchester United plan to host a barbeque for players and staff at the club’s training ground if they win the Europa League on May 21, instead of staging an open bus parade in the city.

According to the Times, United would have little time to stage any celebrations if they defeat Tottenham Hotspur in the final in Bilbao. United will be heading off on the club’s first post-season tour, with friendlies organised in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong, straight after the final weekend of the Premier League.

If successful in Bilbao, United plan to celebrate the first trophy under Ruben Amorim’s side with a small event involving players and their families and the club’s training ground before their final game of the Premier League season against Aston Villa on 25 May.

United have not staged an open bus parade since winning their last Premier League title under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013, and there were no such celebrations when they last won the Europa League under Jose Mourinho in 2017, or when they lifted either the Carabao Cup or FA Cup under Erik ten Hag.

Newcastle United celebrated the end of their trophy drought with a celebration in the city when they lifted the Carabao Cup this season. Liverpool also plan to mark a second title in 35 years with a parade in the city on Monday 26 May, the day after they lift the title at Anfield.

Tottenham Hotspur would be expected to organise a parade in north London should Ange Postecoglou’s side win the Europa League, which would be the club’s first trophy in 17 years.

Meanwhile, the BBC have reported that Manchester United players will be limited to two free tickets each for the Europa League final, while it was reported over the weekend that staff will not receive free tickets for the match in Bilbao.

Son Heung Min is desperate to lead Tottenham Hotspur to Europa League glory in Bilbao and complete the missing “final piece” of his career at the club.

Spurs captain Son has scored 173 goals in 451 appearances across 10 seasons in north London but failed to land silverware and has watched long-serving team-mates Hugo Lloris and Harry Kane depart in recent years.

The South Korean has been involved in two painful cup final defeats for Tottenham - to Liverpool in the Champions League in 2019 and a Carabao Cup loss at Wembley to Manchester City four years ago – but believes the feeling around next Wednesday’s showpiece is different.

While Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs have endured a torrid Premier League campaign, they have saved their best for Europe to knock out AZ Alkmaar, Eintracht Frankfurt and Bodo/Glimt in impressive fashion and boast three victories already over finalists Manchester United this term.

During an interview with Korean media at the club’s Europa League final media day on Monday, Son said: “We’ve been talking about this for years. The biggest reason I stayed at Tottenham was because I wanted to do something others couldn’t achieve.

“That’s probably why I’m where I am now. You need all the pieces to complete a puzzle. I think I’ve gathered all the other pieces to make that puzzle complete.

“It feels like I’ve been missing that one most important final piece and I’ve been trying to find it for the past 10 years. I really hope I can finally complete the puzzle this time.

“It feels different this time. I really want to win – more than anyone else, I think. So many people are supporting us with the same desperate passion I feel. If we prepare well, I believe we can achieve it.”

Son has watched various Spurs players leave and taste success elsewhere, with Kane the latest after he helped Bayern Munich to the Bundesliga title earlier this month.

The duo struck up a formidable partnership at Tottenham and while Kane left almost two years ago, he has given his old strike partner “energy” before a date with destiny at San Mames on May 21.

“I actually texted Harry and he called me back on a video call! I was really happy to see him happy,” Son reflected.

“He is one of my best friends and to see a once team-mate achieve so much, I was delighted for him like he’s my family. With that positive energy, I hope he can support Spurs in the game as well so we can achieve a good result like his.

“For me, every game is special and every game is meaningful, but this game feels like an opportunity that may not come back.”

PA