Football London

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min spoke to the media in Bilbao on Tuesday ahead of the Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United.

The Spurs skipper will take on his second European final with the club, having lost the 2019 Champions League final to Liverpool and he spoke in Bilbao about the experiences of that night in Madrid, what still upsets him to this day and how he is different to the player who took to the pitch that day.

Son also spoke about a special barbecue organised by Cristian Romero, Rodrigo Bentancur and Richarlison at Tottenham's Hotspur Way training complex ahead of the final, an event that brought the players even closer together before the big match. The South Korean star was also asked about his future at the north London club.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Son and here's a full transcript from the press conference in Bilbao.

Ten years now at Tottenham, what would it mean to you on a personal level if you were to go up and lift that trophy tomorrow night?

It will be very special and it will be obviously a historic moment. I've been here for 10 years and I just wanted to win the trophy which nobody has done during my time here during those 10 years.

Tomorrow is going to be a massive day for obviously the club first of all, and for the boys and obviously for me as well.

The South American players organised a barbecue at the training ground and Ange was keen that you all went, how important was that for team bonding ahead of the final?

It was very important that everybody was together, having a good time, spending time together and just talking about their lives and it felt like we were getting even closer, you know, but I mean, especially this season, which has been such a tough season, but we've been always together, we stuck together and that's why we are here. So I think one last step left, so we've got to make it.

The Korean fans will be supporting you at 4am in the morning when this match kicks off so do you have any special message for the Korean fans?

I really appreciate that they are supporting me or us, in the morning time, in the night-time, late night time or early night time. They are always here and then they're always supporting us and as I say all the time that I want to give, give them something back and tomorrow I hope I can give some of my smile and then the trophy and the historic moment that we'll never, never forget. I hope we can enjoy it together and celebrate it together.

How are you feeling in terms of your fitness and how close do you feel to peak sharpness? Can you play for the full 90 minutes if necessary?

I'm ready. I'm obviously back from injury and it was my first game against Crystal Palace and then I played against Villa around 70 minutes, which I didn't expect to play that long, but I was managing to play.

Physically I'm ready, ready to go, and also the boys are ready to go for the biggest game of the season.

You're the only survivor from the starting Tottenham team from the Champions League final, how much can you use the pain of that defeat to make sure that you get a better outcome in this final?

Ben Davies is still here, so don't forget about his commitment and his work rate. It's going to be a huge, huge moment for both of us and also for the boys if we win it. As we always say, the first step is going to be really hard, but if you win that trophy, we can change the mentality, we can change the history and hopefully we can continue to compete for another trophy.

Have you spoken to Harry Kane about tomorrow's final?

Obviously, everybody knows Harry is my best mate, and also it was a huge honour playing alongside him, but after he won the first title, we had a chat about his trophy, but yeah, I mean, he's already on holiday, so he won't want to text me. He doesn't have to text me.

So I just concentrate, myself with the boys and obviously Harry will be biggest Spurs fan tomorrow. I'm definitely sure that he'll be supporting us from holiday.

How important to avoid a bad start like in 2019?

I still don’t think it was handball! We can’t change it. Every game is the same, the first 15 minutes are hugely important to get a game tempo, game rhythm, it’s hugely important. I will especially mention to the boys that it’s important we start well to get our confidence.

You've faced Man United three times, now in a final – does it feel the same or is it special?

Obviously it is special. It doesn’t matter who we play against, it is a special stage, a special tournament and to reach the final, it has never been free. Yeah, it’s going to be a special game, a very tough game, a very difficult game but we just have to do our things, concentrate on ourselves and we’ll see what happens.

You only have a year left on your contract, do you feel like this is now-or-never for yourself to win that trophy at Tottenham?

The future, we never know, the future, we never know. We could play next year Champions League or we could play, I don’t know we might play in a final. We never know. The chance what I have now is real. It is a fact tomorrow is a final and the Europa League final. I will not think about anything else. It could be my last change or another chance, but I just want to concentrate on tomorrow, on winning and lifting the trophy with the boys.

What are the differences to 2019?

Six years ago, I played my first final in professional level and it was very nervous moments and very exciting moments. But I was very nervous and couldn’t believe I was in the Champions League final. Six years after, obviously, I’m a grown man and experienced and want to prepare in my way, calm.

There have been changes, so many years, so many different players, and also my role has changed from just a player to the captain of the club, leader of the boys and I just want to help the boys to lift it together. That is my dream.

Is it easy to forget about doubts after losing so many games in the Premier League?

Yeah, in the league, definitely where we are now obviously is unacceptable but don’t want to think about now that things are not good. It is not the right time to think about it. As I said we are here and reaching the final, you have to beat some good teams as well. You have to travel to away games, have to make difficult games, you have to be disciplined and you have to have belief in yourself, which we did and that’s why we are in the final. We can change the bad season in the league with a trophy and Spurs are just missing the trophy. Some seasons we have been outstanding, we have been in the Champions League, we were finishing second but still we were missing something. This year we can change that, so tomorrow, I hope we can change that.

Have you said anything special to the team?

I mean I don’t need to motivate them because it’s a final and everybody will know how important that is. Everybody will be there to get excited. It will be just telling them we need to be together, to stay calm, to do the right things and the game will be in our hands. Obviously still haven’t talked to the boys to get more motivation, but I will definitely talk to the boys about my experience, real experiences and we will see what is going to happen in tomorrow’s final.

There is the possibility Ange Postecoglou switches things up slightly when it comes to his Tottenham team for the Europa League final. After a long campaign in Europe after kicking things off back in September, Spurs will go head-to-head with Manchester United in Bilbao on Wednesday evening for the famous trophy.

As has been the case across the whole season, the Australian has a couple of injuries to deal with ahead of the biggest game of his Tottenham tenure. Influential duo James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski are in no position to play and the same goes for Lucas Bergvall.

Given that we have seen Tottenham's midfield options limited over the past couple of weeks due to the latest batch of injuries to hit the club, it could possibly lead to Postecoglou changing his formation for the match at San Mames Stadium. So what exactly could he do? football.london takes a look below.

There are question marks over whether Postecoglou will stick with a 4-3-3 formation given he has lost midfielders Bergvall, Maddison and Kulusevski recently. The boss still has options to continue with his preferred setup and it may be Pape Matar Sarr who profits if that is the case.

The Senegalese ace would join Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma in the middle of the park and give Tottenham bundles of energy in the middle. He has also enjoyed his previous outings against Man Utd and that may work in Postecoglou's favour.

If Sarr is to come in then it could be bad news for one of Richarlison or Son Heung-min on the left-wing. The Spurs captain has proved his fitness levels in the past two games but Postecoglou's past two team selections seem to indicate that he is saving Richarlison for the final.

One way to accommodate both Richarlison and Son in the starting XI would be to go with a 4-4-2 formation. That way Son could operate from the left flank and the Brazilian start alongside Dominic Solanke in attack.

Bentancur and Bissouma would be the midfield two in this scenario, with Brennan Johnson and Son either side of them. It may not be a setup we have regularly seen but Postecoglou does have the players at his disposal to start like this if he wants.

A 4-2-3-1 formation is also something for Postecoglou to consider as he has choice when it comes to the No.10 role. Going with the players named above, Solanke could drop slightly deeper and allow Richarlison to be the lone striker in the system.

If Postecoglou wants Solanke leading the line, Son could play as a No.10 and that could see one of Richarlison or Mathys Tel start from the left. We have seen Wilson Odobert at No.10 recently and he looked much brighter against Aston Villa after struggling in the Crystal Palace defeat.

Odobert is certainly a candidate for the role but it will all come down to Postecoglou's thinking.

Finally, could we see the boss select a back three for the biggest game of the season? Postecoglou went with a three-man defence at Everton in January and it unfortunately backfired with the team just not used to the system.

Kevin Danso would be the player to come in and partner Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven in this scenario, thus allowing Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie to push even higher and have more of an influence in the final third. It would then be a question of whether Postecoglou would select three in midfield and two up front or two in midfield with that extra attacking player.

Ange Postecoglou had plenty to say to the media out in Bilbao on Tuesday ahead of the Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United.

The two Premier League strugglers will do battle in Spain to decide who will left the trophy and capture Champions League qualification with it for next season. While United have more recent pedigree when it comes to silverware, Spurs are looking to win their first trophy in 17 years and first piece of European silverware in 41 years.

Postecoglou delivered the latest squad news on Pape Matar Sarr and Lucas Bergvall and the Australian also addressed his future at Tottenham and showed his anger towards an article in the week that had referred to him potentially being remembered as a clown-like figure if there was no Europa League triumph.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold was among those putting the questions to Postecoglou. Here's a full transcript from the press conference in Bilbao.

What's the latest team news and is Lucas Bergvall available?

Pretty much the same as last week. No, Lucas isn’t available. Same as we were as of last week.

It's your 100th game tomorrow and you spoke about the stonecutters' creed and striking the 101st blow?

Hopefully that 101 st blow is tomorrow mate and not on Sunday. It’s hard to contextualise some of the challenges of the last couple of years. From my perspective I came into the club with some pretty clear objectives about what the priorities were for the club when taking over. I’ve tried as hard as I can to stick to that process of getting the club to a position where they can challenge for trophies while at the same time rejuvenating a squad and changing a playing style. It’s been a fair assignment, with plenty of challenges along the way. It’s such a big game tomorrow there is an opportunity to fulfil at least the main task which is to bring trophies to the club.

How is Pape Matar Sarr?

He's fine mate.

The players had a bonding barbecue ahead of coming out here and apparently you were quite keen on them doing it?

Mate I’m an Aussie, I’d never say no to a barbecue. You’d never have to twist my arm. But no, it was player driven, it was a good time for them to have a relaxing afternoon. We have the luxury of a training ground with a really nice barbecue area. Unfortunately I had to fulfil my commitments with you guys so I missed the best of it. Those are the sacrifices you have to make.

What's more important, the Champions League qualification or the trophy?

It’s a great prize, the significance of Champions League qualification and what it means for every football club. There are the obvious benefits but also you get the opportunity to play against the best in the continent. But the club has been in the Champions League before. It hasn’t won a trophy for a long time. So that’s the most important thing.

Are you conscious of the infamy v legendary status if you win or lose?

That depends on your outlook, but I’ll tell you one thing: irrespective of what happens tomorrow, I’m not a clown and I never will be, mate. I’m really disappointed that you would use such terminology about a person who for 26 years without any favours from anyone has worked his way to a position where he’s leading out a club in a European major competition (final). For you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I’m a clown, not really sure how to answer that question.

You've beaten Manchester United three times - does that put more pressure on or make you more confident?

Neither because it’s a final and you know that those kind of things aren’t important. If we had lost all three games your question would probably be ‘do you feel the pressure because you can’t beat them’, so… What I do know, and I’ve been in this situation a few times in my career in the big games, even your form going into it, even if you’ve got terrible form… it doesn’t matter.

What matters is how the players cope with the occasion tomorrow. How they cope with understanding the importance of the game. For both clubs, you just don’t know how players are going to react to such a big occasion.

My role in that is to try to prepare the players in the best possible way and also to prepare the players for Manchester United to be at their best, and that’s what you have to prepare for. If you prepare that way, and then you go out there and play to the potential that you can, you give yourself an opportunity.

But I don’t think it really matters what you’ve done before any opposition when it comes to big games. Maybe in the league it’s a bit different. But in a final, everything gets decided on the day.

People are saying this could be your penultimate game in charge - what do you think?

Does it matter? Really? It doesn’t matter because the reality of it is the opportunity is the same, for me and more importantly for the club. I’ve said before that whatever happens beyond tomorrow is kind of irrelevant when you think about the opportunity that exists right now.

That opportunity is to provide something special for the football club and for the supporters and for everyone who has worked so hard, not just this year but for the 15, 16 years, however long it has been without a trophy and also the 41 years without a European trophy.

If I was worried about my tenure at this football club, it’s fair to say we wouldn’t have been in this position because I would have been distracted long ago. I’m pretty good at just making sure all my focus is on giving this football club the best opportunity that it’s had for a while to do something special. Whatever happens after that, mate, I’m very, very comfortable that I’ll continue on trying to win trophies wherever I am.

I want to ask you about Richarlison, what is the difference when he plays and what does the team gain? Also I heard you came to Brazil and that you became a Vasco fan?

I have to be careful about who I support because I might go and coach in Brazil one day and I might end up at, I don't know, Corinthians or something and it will cause me problems.

Richy, so pleased for him because he's had a tough time, Richy, not just this year, but since he's been at Tottenham. He's had some injury problems, he's never really had a stretch of games and it's been very tough on him, both physically but also emotionally, but he's in a really good place now. Physically he's worked really hard on his fitness and he plays with so much passion and determination.

Every time he plays, he just gives 100%, he has quality as well, and it's great to have him in the team. I think for us, he provides something different to our other attacking players.

He's already made a big impact for us in the Europa League and particularly in the semi-final, and I'm just really pleased for him that through all the difficult times he's had he's now in a place where he's fit, he's available, and he's excited about contributing.

And yeah, I've always loved Brazilian football. I actually played against Vasco da Gama in 1985 so every time I visited Brazil there's always an association with us.

You are the first Australian and also Greek to coach a team in a European final, how does that feel?

Yeah, I'm very proud of that because I think it's kind of what I was saying before, but just to me to be in this position where I've come from. I was born in Greece, I'm a very proud Greek. My father made sure that I understood where our roots were and what it means to be Greek, and I've carried that through my whole life.

I grew up in Australia on the other side of the world where football, unfortunately it wasn't a prominent sport, but my father, he took his love of football from Greece to Australia and he worked really, really hard, as I've said before many times, my mum and my dad, they left their home country, their family, everything they knew for their kids, you know, for me.

And I hold that dear to my heart and he's not with me today but he is with me all the time, so I feel very strongly, you know, I love being Greek, I love being in Greece, it's I think where I'll retire one day, and I love that I grew up in a country in Australia where even though football wasn't a big sport, when you grow up in Australia, you also have the attitude when it comes to sport, you'll take on anyone, it doesn't matter how big or small they are and I'm proud of my roots in both.

How big is to get Sonny back?

Yeah massive to get Sonny back. We were a little bit worried when he picked up the injury because we just weren’t sure how long he would be out for, but he worked so hard to make sure he was back. Really pleased the other night to see him play 60 to 70 minutes and you could see his sharpness coming back. He’s just so important to the group and he is so important as a leader. He is such an important figure at this football club and it’s a big motivation and driver for all of us, including me, to give him a trophy that his career deserves. Again, he is a guy who has come from the other side of the world. Not many players have come from Asian and stayed in the Premier League, the top league in the world, for so long and maintained that excellence. It would be great to cap that off with a trophy for him. He knows and we all know that we have still got to do the work. He’s been in this position before obviously in the Champions League final so he has that experience. I am sure he will pass that onto the players.

Have you had to address your future with the players as a group?

No, because I think again that would not be really help with what is before us right now. I’ve said to the lads from day one, nothing is guaranteed in life, nothing is guaranteed in sport. You just need to try and make sure you take every opportunity before you. That’s what I have done my whole career. I’ve been in this position before where the big game was the last game I managed. It’s not unusual territory for me. I have always navigated it pretty well because for me nothing is more important than my responsibility for this football club and its fans that tomorrow me, the players, our mind is only on one thing and that is to create something special.

Can you give us examples?

I qualified for a World Cup and left. Won the treble with Celtic and left. Won at Brisbane and left. It’s actually more common than you think.

The assumption is your future will be decided by the hierarchy and football club?

My future is assured, mate. I wouldn’t be the first person who changes job. We all change jobs. I am sure you’ve had more than one job. My future is assured, I have got a beautiful family, I’ve got a great life, I’ll keep on winning trophies until I finish – wherever that is. Don’t worry about my future, mate. My future is not intertwined with anything. My future is assured provided god-willing my health remains, my beautiful family is beside me, my friends, there is nothing wrong with my future, mate. Don’t stress. Sleep easy tonight. I’ll be OK.

I meant specifically at Tottenham, is there a scenario where you win the trophy and it’s job done and you walk away?

No, because I don’t think my job is done here. I really feel like we are building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerate that. So, I still think there is work to be done. It is quite obvious with the challenges we’ve had this year, which I think are well chronicled but there is some reasoning in the context of that, but also there has been some growth and I would like to see through. Whether that happens or not is not that important right now, but I don’t think far from it is this job finished. I certainly feel there is some growth there that we can take this club to where it needs to be.

Tottenham may be 17th in the Premier League table right now but Ange Postecoglou's side are one game away from Champions League qualification. Unable to qualify for Europe via the league table this season following such a dreadful year in N17, Spurs' potential route into Europe comes in the form of winning the Europa League final.

The north London club are now in Bilbao ahead of Wednesday evening's showdown against Manchester United at San Mames Stadium. The Red Devils themselves have also endured a disastrous league campaign, sitting one place above Spurs in the table heading into this weekend's final game of the Premier League season.

However, one of the sides will be back at the top table of European football come September with the winners of the Europa League final securing a Champions League berth in 2025/26. Whoever triumphs in Wednesday's final will automatically take their place in the 36-team league phase come September rather than having to go through qualifying to reach the main stage of the Champions League.

Liverpool and Arsenal have already qualified for the Champions League via the Premier League table, with the other three places to be confirmed come 6pm on Sunday. Others to have already secured their place in next season's competition include Barcelona, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, PSG, Napoli, Inter Milan and Atalanta.

The fact that one of Tottenham or Manchester United will qualify for the Champions League despite just hovering above the Premier League relegation zone has proved to be quite the topic of discussion this month. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stated that neither team should be allowed to compete in the Champions League even if they win the Europa League.

Those quotes were recently put to Postecoglou and he delivered his own verdict by claiming that "Spurs do crazy things to people".

"Well, I mean that's a debate that's been raging for years, like at least the last eight days," he quipped in his pre-match press conference ahead of the semi-final second leg against Bodo/Glimt. "I've never heard that before, so.. I've said it before, mate, Spurs does crazy things to people. It does, it does.

"You put that club into any sentence or any issue, and invariably they all come out and try and diminish as much as they can. Why wasn't there an issue before and it's an issue now? What's the difference? I don't understand what the difference is.

"Last year, fifth didn't get you into the Champions League, this year it does. What does that mean? There are competition rules and the rules say that the winner goes into [the Champions League] and it's not the first year, and there isn't an asterisk against it that you have to do something else as well. But it's Spurs, mate, they love it. They love it. Oh, they love it, you love it, don't you?"

If Tottenham are to be playing in next season's edition of the Champions League, all connected with the club will discover their eight league phase opponents when the draw is made on Thursday, August 28.

Ange Postecoglou delivered a passionate response to a question about his Tottenham Hotspur future in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Europa League final against Manchester United.

Tottenham take on the Red Devils in San Mames, Bilbao on Wednesday night, aiming to claim their first piece of silverware for 17 years and their first European trophy in 41 years.

Both teams have been poor in the Premier League, but excellent in Europe to reach this stage, with Ange Postecoglou's future as the Lilywhites' head coach hanging by a thread in recent weeks.

Spurs are likely to finish 17th in the English top flight and record their worst ever Premier League campaign. But could, conversely end the season with a trophy.

There are plenty of rumours circling about the Australian's future, with many reports suggesting that, no matter what happens n San Mames, Postecoglou could depart the club.

But if he does, it will not, seemingly, be of his own accord.

Postecoglou initially admitted that leaving after a success was "more common than you think" when looking at his past.

He said: "I qualified for a World Cup and left, I won a treble with Celtic and left, won at Brisbane and left, it's actually more common than you think."

But when pressed by another journalist on his future, Postecoglou roared into life.

"My future is assured, mate, I wouldn't be the first person who changes jobs, we all change jobs," he said.

"My future is assured, I've got a beautiful family, a great life, I'll keep winning trophies until I finish, wherever that is, don't worry about my future, my future is not entwined with anything, my future is assured."

When pressed on if he could leave by resigning, however, Postecoglou was adamant.

"No, because I don't think my job is done here," he admitted. "I really feel like we're building something and what a trophy does is hopefully accelerates that.

"I still think there's a lot of work to be done. The challenges we've had this year are well chronicled, but there's been some reasoning in that and there's also been growth I'd like to see through, but whether that happens or not is not that important right now.

"I think this job is far from finished. There's some growth there to take this club where it needs to be."

Gary Neville has explained why he thinks Manchester United will win the Europa League but his honest prediction has given Tottenham some hope of triumphing in Bilbao.

While United are seeking a third trophy in as many seasons, Spurs are out to end a 17-year wait without one and the winner will also be playing Champions League football next season. That has taken some serious scrutiny in recent weeks as the two teams look set to finish in the two spots just outside the Premier League relegation zone.

As for the latest injury news, Ange Postecoglou has been handed three blows and one worry while United have suffered just one fitness setback in comparison to a triple boost.

James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall have been ruled out, though there is hope the latter can feature. Pape Matar Sarr also picked up a back issue in the Friday night defeat to Aston Villa but all of those players, minus Kulusevski, have been spotted in Bilbao.

Meanwhile in Manchester, Joshua Zirkzee, Diogo Dalot and Leny Yoro all returned to team training on Tuesday but Matthijs de Ligt was still absent and is therefore likely to miss the final.

Given the players seemingly available, United are favourites in the eyes of most with Neville appearing to agree on that. The former United defender has given two reasons as to why they should win, but he has also suggested his prediction could be way off as it was for a different final earlier in the season.

“I think United will win," he admitted on Sky Sports. "There’s some players in there - Bruno and Casemiro - who will feel that occasion and want it, need it in their lives. I agree with the belief.

"I know history is something that gets pointed towards although at the Carabao Cup final earlier this season I thought Liverpool would absolutely lift that trophy and Van Dijk would be up on that podium, and they weren’t. There’s got to be a garden against that. I do feel confident in United just getting through this game on Wednesday.”

While Neville is right about United having winners in their squad, Spurs will have a world champion in the centre of defence. Though Mathys Tel is only 20, he fully understands the mentality needed to win having spent two-and-a-half years at Bayern Munich.

Manchester United's travelling squad for the Europa League final against Tottenham Hotspur has been bolstered by the return of Leny Yoro, Diogo Dalot and Joshua Zirkzee.

The trio were back in full training at United's Carrington training base on Tuesday morning, providing a significant lift for Ruben Amorim ahead of the showdown in Bilbao.

Zirkzee's availability is particular boost for United, with the forward having made a quicker than expected recovery from an injury that was initially feared to be season-ending. Yoro and Dalot are also pushing for starting berths at the Estadio de San Mames on Wednesday after participating in the final pre-match training session.

However, Matthijs de Ligt will not be part of the travelling party. The defender, who sustained an injury against Brentford on May 4, was seen doing light individual work at Carrington on Tuesday, reports our sister title the Manchester Evening News.

Aside from De Ligt, Amorim has a fully fit squad to choose from for the final - a welcome change for the United boss who - like Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou - has grappling with a lengthy injury list throughout the campaign.

While Tottenham made the journey to the Basque Country on Monday evening, United opted to stick to their usual routine of training at Carrington ahead of European away fixtures.

James Maddison is part of Spurs' travelling contingent, although he isn't fit to play.

Meanwhile, Postecoglou revealed that Tottenham midfielder Lucas Bergvall is not available for the final. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, he said: Team news is pretty much the same as last week. No Lucas isn't available. Pretty much the same as we were as of last week."

Man United full travelling squad vs Tottenham

Goalkeepers: Onana, Bayindir, Heaton, Mee.

Defenders: Evans, Amass, Dorgu, Dalot, Fredricson, Yoro, Maguire, Heaven, Lindelof, Mazraoui, Shaw.

Midfielders: Mainoo, Eriksen, Ugarte, Mount, Fernandes, Collyer, Casemiro.

Attackers: Hojlund, Amad, Garnacho, Zirkzee.

There's a new Tottenham Hotspur anthem supporters can get listening to ahead of the huge Europa League final against Manchester United on Wednesday.

To Dare Is To Do is a new song, launched by multi award-winning songwriter and record producers Jimmy Napes and Paul Epworth.

The Tottenham-supporting duo, who have won multiple Academy Awards, Grammys and Golden Globes between them, launched the song on all platforms on Tuesday ahead of the big game in Bilbao.

The main vocals on the song some from Tottenham-supporting choir members and 27 kids from the duo's own children's schools. It also incorporates strings from Spurs fans Rosie Danvers and TommyD, mixing from as far afield as Los Angeles through another Spurs follower in Patrick Ford, while amongst the layers of the track are audio recordings from the epic atmosphere generated by the 60,000-plus crowd present at the home leg of the Europa League semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.

Napes said: "This isn't about this season's highs and lows, or a cup final, it is a celebration of the club and its identity, including obviously its location in a certain part of London. I don't think I've ever had more fun making a record in my life. Tottenham til I die!"

Epworth, meanwhile, said: "What started as a light-hearted conversation with Jimmy over a pint about the idea of working together soon turned into one of the most ambitious productions I've ever been involved with, not least because of the time deadlines and our ambition to get 60,000 people singing on it. No one asked for a new Tottenham song, I'm not sure anyone even wanted one, but Jimmy and I knew if we got it right and the release was timed correctly then it had the potential to help propel us to more glory, glory nights."

Tottenham take on Manchester United in San Mames, Bilbao at 8pm on Wednesday night.

Ange Postecoglou, his captain Son Heung-min and Pedro Porro are set to speak to the media out in Bilbao on Tuesday ahead of the Europa League final between Tottenham and Manchester United.

The two Premier League sides will do battle in Spain to decide who can secure the trophy and the added bonus of Champions League qualification with it for next season. For both Spurs and United, after a season of struggle domestically, that would also be a huge boost to push them back on track.

While United have more recent pedigree when it comes to silverware, the north London club are looking to win their first trophy in 17 years and first piece of European silverware in 41 years.

Postecoglou will deliver the latest squad news with Tottenham fans still hoping there's a chance that Lucas Bergvall could return early from his ankle injury for the showpiece final. Spurs brought a number of their injured players with them to Bilbao in order for them to be part of a final that they have helped the team get to.

Son and his team-mate Porro will also be discussing the final, with the captain looking to be the man who ends the trophy drought at the club by lifting the Europa League cup aloft on Wednesday night.

Our Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold is among those putting the questions to Postecoglou and his players. Scroll down for his latest updates from the press conference in Bilbao.

There may only be a couple of decisions facing Ange Postecoglou when it comes to his Tottenham team for Wednesday's Europa League final against Manchester United. The Spurs boss dropped a big selection hint last Friday in the defeat at Aston Villa as he was clearly resting players with the showpiece finale in mind.

All eyes will be on his teamsheet come Wednesday evening and whether Son Heung-min starts after only just recently returning from injury. The South Korean has proved his fitness in the past two games and may now be in line to start against the Red Devils.

The other selection decision Spurs fans will be looking out for is whether there is a place for Lucas Bergvall in the matchday squad. Postecoglou stated last week that the Swede won't be available due to the ankle injury he is carrying, but all connected with the club will be hopeful that the youngster can make a swift recovery to hand all a major boost ahead of such an important game.