Victorious without trembling, Manchester United and Tottenham will compete in a 100% English final

Strong of the ascendant taken to go, Manchester United and Tottenham logically qualified this Thursday for the Europa League final. Winners last week in San Mames (3-0), the Red Devils composted their ticket after their 4-1 victory at Old Trafford in the return semi-final.

For their part, the Spurs won 3-1 on the outward journey against the Norwegians of Bodo/Glimt and they also won the return match (0-2) on the lawn of the surprise guest of the competition, which had released Twente, Olympiacos and Lazio Rome. It will therefore be a 100% English confrontation in the C3 final, on May 21 in Bilbao, with a place in the Champions League for the happy winner.

She will be the second Anglo-English final in the history of the Europa League after that won by Chelsea against Arsenal in 2019 and she will oppose two clubs which will not be their first: Tottenham has already played three finals (two titles in 1972 and 1984) and Manchester United two (a title in 2017).

Manchester United and Tottenham, who follow each other in the 15th and 16th places of the Premier League, have given themselves a last chance to save a failed season. The stake is still enhanced by the precious ticket for the next Champions League offered to the winner. The Red Devils had already broken the Basques’ dreams to play the final in front of their public in San Mamés by winning largely outside last week.

Although dominated during three-quarters of the match Thursday, they further exploded the Athletic, at the end, thanks to Mason Mason goals (71st, 90th+1), Casemiro (79th) and Höjlund (85th). Mikel Jauregiz had brought a semblance of suspense to life by opening the scoring in the first half (31st). In Bodoe, beyond the polar circle, the Norwegian team could never believe in the feat and ended up falling in the last half hour on goals by Dominic Solanke (63rd) and Pedro Porro (70th).