Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were the two English representatives in this season’s Europa League and, despite both occupying the spots above the Premier League relegation zone in 16th and 17th respectively, have successfully navigated their European challenges to meet in Wednesday’s final.
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There is much at stake: a trophy, a season’s redemption and a place in next year’s Champions League.
After navigating the league phase, Spurs then beat AZ, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bodo/Glimt on the way to the final, while United saw off Real Sociedad, Lyon (in incredible style), and Athletic Club, the San Mames home of whom the final will be held.
Arguably helping United and Spurs this season is the fact that Champions League teams no longer drop into the Europa League after changes to the format. Sevilla (2022-23) and Atletico Madrid (2017-18) both won the Europa League after starting their European campaigns in the Champions League.
In this season’s revamped format, teams from the same nation could meet from the knockout phase play-offs onwards, but United finished third and Spurs fourth in the competition’s league phase, meaning both avoided that round and were drawn on different sides of the bracket for the knockout stages, which leads us to the sixth all-English European final.
Perhaps ominously for Spurs, in the five other all-English finals, the teams with the higher league position at that time went on to win three of them. Here we look at how the other five finals played out.
Manchester City 0-1 Chelsea — 2021 UEFA Champions League
Thomas Tuchel celebrates winning the Champions League with Chelsea (Susana Vera/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Thomas Tuchel inherited this Chelsea team from Frank Lampard, the club great who was sacked in January 2021 following a run of two wins in eight Premier League matches, leaving the west London club sitting ninth in the table.
Tuchel, now the England manager, completed a remarkable turnaround as Chelsea won their second Champions League trophy. By reaching the final, Tuchel also went one step further with Chelsea than the season prior with Paris Saint-Germain.
Kai Havertz scored the winner against a Manchester City side chasing a first Champions League title. His 42nd-minute goal was his Chelsea career highlight in a mixed time at the club, and a high, too, for Mason Mount, who provided the assist but has been regularly injured since his move to Manchester United in the summer of 2023.
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Pep Guardiola selected an all-attacking line-up as he went in search of his third triumph in the competition as manager, but his tactics fell flat and striker Sergio Aguero ended a magnificent City career with defeat.
Tottenham Hotspur 0-2 Liverpool — 2019 UEFA Champions League
Jurgen Klopp celebrates winning his first trophy as Liverpool manager (Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
The 2019 Champions League final in Madrid was far from entertaining, failing to capture the tournament’s previous highs. Not that Liverpool would have cared much, as they were able to correct the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the final the year before.
Liverpool and Spurs both completed almighty comebacks that campaign. Liverpool lost 3-0 to Barcelona in the first leg of the semi-finals at Camp Nou, only to win 4-0 at Anfield and prevail on aggregate. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s quick corner into Divock Origi for the fourth goal was one that sticks in the mind.
Spurs, under Mauricio Pochettino, had magical moments, too. Facing being knocked out by Manchester City, Fernando Llorente scored the goal at the Etihad that brought Spurs level on aggregate at 4-4, helping them advance on away goals. Spurs were then 3-0 down on aggregate to Ajax with 55 minutes to go at the Johan Cruyff Arena, before Lucas Moura scored a hat-trick to see them through on away goals again.
In the final, Liverpool were marginally the better team, though they had far less possession than Spurs. Mohamed Salah put Jurgen Klopp’s team ahead from the penalty spot and Origi made sure of the win, which secured Klopp his first trophy as Liverpool manager.
It was also the night Alexander-Arnold uttered the now famous words: “I’m just a normal lad from Liverpool whose dreams came true.”
Chelsea 4-1 Arsenal — 2019 UEFA Europa League
Both the Champions League and Europa League had all-English finals in 2019.
Eden Hazard dominated this game for Chelsea in Baku’s Olympic Stadium, his final match for the club before an £89million (then $115.7m) move to Real Madrid.
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The Belgian winger scored twice and assisted Pedro to give Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri the first trophy of his managerial career. Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud was the other Chelsea scorer that night as the club won the fifth European title in its history.
The next month, Sarri left Chelsea, the Italian’s reign lasting just one season. His counterpart that night, Unai Emery, didn’t last too much longer at Arsenal, and was sacked in the November of that year.
Manchester United 1-1 Chelsea (United win 6-5 on penalties) — 2008 UEFA Champions League
Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs lift the Champions League trophy at the Luzhniki Stadium (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
This all-Premier League final is best remembered for John Terry’s slip in the penalty shootout. At the time, the former Chelsea captain said the miss would “haunt me for the rest of my life”.
With the score 1-1 after extra time — Frank Lampard equalising on the stroke of half-time after Cristiano Ronaldo had put United in front in the 26th minute — the game went to penalties.
As torrential rain poured down in Moscow, Ronaldo — who won his first Ballon d’Or that year — missed his penalty (United’s third). Chelsea went four for four, so it was on Terry to win Europe’s biggest prize for his team. But the defender slipped, his effort hitting the post. In sudden death, Nicolas Anelka had his penalty saved and so it was Sir Alex Ferguson’s side celebrating a third European Cup win in the club’s illustrious history.
Terry sobbed on the pitch. He said afterwards: “I feel I have let everybody down and this hurts me more than anything.”
In a poignant moment, 50 years after the Munich air crash, Sir Bobby Charlton, a survivor of that tragedy, joined the United players as they went up to collect their medals.
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Tottenham Hotspur (2-3 on aggregate) — 1972 UEFA Cup
Phil Parkes (right), goalkeeper for Wolverhampton Wanderers, takes the ball away from Tottenham’s Martin Peters (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Spurs winning a trophy? Unheard of in recent times, with the club currently enduring a 17-year trophy drought. Yet, 53 years ago, they did win the equivalent of today’s Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup until 2009).
These meetings between Spurs and Wolves in 1972 — the UEFA Cup was a two-legged affair until 1997 — were the final of the inaugural UEFA Cup competition. It was the first UEFA club tournament final overall to involve two teams from the same association.
A Martin Chivers double won Spurs the first leg 2-1 at Molineux, and a 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane secured the title 3-2 on aggregate.
(Top photo Javier Soriano/AFP via Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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