The worst Europa League final ever! Tottenham "broke the wilderness", Manchester United "broke the can"

The reporter reported coldly Tottenham fans who witnessed the Europa League final seemed to have swallowed a "weird" chocolate, ending the 17-year trophy drought and qualifying for next season's Champions League, at least soothing their wounded hearts for a season. But for Manchester United fans, whose inner world has long been torn apart, what did they swallow after watching the Red Devils, who are ranked the lowest in the history of the Premier League, play this ugly "worst final in Europa League history"?

The hustle and bustle of 80,000 Tottenham and Manchester United fans in Bilbao cannot hide the fact that the final is the "worst" in the history of the Europa League. Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur reached the final in 16th and 17th place in the Premier League, the worst league rankings for any team in the tournament's history – and although they are the most expensive teams in the Europa League together (€1.53 billion), surpassing Chelsea and Arsenal in 2018/19 (€1.51 billion), they have such a lavish squad and lackluster performances.

Tottenham had just three shots on goal, possession was as low as 27.7 per cent and made just 115 successful passes, the lowest number for a single team in the three major European Cup finals since 2009/10. Manchester United, who had 16 shots on goal, had a lower expected goal tally (0.85) than Tottenham (1.14). Even the only goal of the game, Brennan Johnson's shot in the 41st minute, had to rely on mistakes by defender Luke Shaw and goalkeeper Onana to score luckily.

After the game, the British media and famous experts were furious about the bad content of the game, and the famous commentator Morgan said that it was the worst quality final in the history of the three major European cups: "It is shocking that one of these two teams is going to play in the Champions League next season...... Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also hinted that neither team should qualify for the Champions League in the final at such a low level. Liverpool legend Michael Owen emphasised the unbelievable quality of the game: "Both teams couldn't even pass the ball three times in a row, there was no tactics, no goal. Fans even compared the final to the super "unfinished" of popular dramas in recent years: "This is the worst finale since the finale of the 8th season of "Game of Thrones" in 2019. ”

Tottenham are the lowest in the league (17th) of the 67 titles in Europe's second-largest competition, breaking the record set by Inter Milan (13th) in 1993/94. Daily Mail expert Oliver congratulated Tottenham on no longer being the traditional "clown" who had not won a title in the last six for many years, but was unsparing in his criticism of the quality of the game: "Tottenham's goals in the first half were ugly, and the second half was even worse. A lot of the League Two games I've watched this season have been better than this European final. The defeat was a humiliation for the team, the fans, Sir Alex Alex Ferguson in the stands, the Scotts' illustrious history and even English football. ”

What's even more embarrassing is that UEFA's operational mistakes led to the moment when the whole Tottenham team took the stage to hold the trophy high at the post-match award ceremony, without the traditional fireworks to cheer up. UEFA has prepared as many as 50 medals, and captain Son Heung-min and Romero, who was named the best in the final, did not get a medal!

Although the content of the game was disappointing, at least the trophy gave Tottenham Hotspur a title to the traditional top six of the Premier League. After winning the English League Cup in 2008, Tottenham reached the cup final for the fifth time and finally won the trophy, ending a 17-year trophy drought. This is also the first time since 1984 that Tottenham has won the European trophy after 41 years. In addition to the title, Tottenham also won €6 million in championship bonuses and at least €4 million in participation in the UEFA Super Cup in August, as well as qualification for next season's Champions League worth or close to €100 million.

In the past 17 years, not only the other top five, but even Leicester City, West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Newcastle United, Wigan Athletic, Birmingham City, Swansea City and Portsmouth have won the title, and defeat seems to be part of Tottenham's team culture. Tottenham defender Van der Veen, who blocked Hojlen's must-score header on the goalline in the second half of the final, sighed: "When I joined Tottenham two years ago, people told me that my career would never be a trophy and I changed that. ”

The Europa League triumph saved Tottenham's failed season and boss Postecoglou continued the tradition of winning the title in his second season: he has managed 11 teams since 1996 and won the title in his second year seven times. Brisbane Roar in 2009 has six teams to date, with the exception of Melbourne Victory (2012/13), who has only managed one season. But 21 Premier League defeats have been the most in a single league season since 1934/35 (22); 17th in the league is also Tottenham's lowest top-flight position since they were relegated from 22nd place in 1976/77.

Although Spurs won the third UEFA Cup/Europa League in Tottenham's history and brought Tottenham at least 100 million euros in predictable income, the Australian manager's position is still likely to be guaranteed. The Spurs hierarchy are hoping for a radical change in the squad, and the arrival of new sporting director Paratici means a change of manager is inevitable.

Manchester United, on the other hand, missed the European competition again after 11 years, not only lost the expected 100 million euros in the Champions League next season, but also deducted 12 million euros of sponsorship income by Adidas, and the funding for reinforcements this summer will also be significantly reduced. With all four seasons empty, 16th in the top flight and worst since relegation in 1973/74 (21st), Manchester United's Portugal boss Amorim is in a worry-free position. The first is that the club, which is expected to lose more than 100 million euros this season, cannot afford to pay the termination fee. Amorim is United's third manager of the season and has a reason to get more time. Amorim was also very strong after the game: "I can leave tomorrow, but I will never quit and I will not change my style. It's just that whether Manchester United, which will inevitably have heavyweight reinforcements this summer, bottoms out in the new season without European competition, and the British media and experts are generally not optimistic.

The Europa League final, which was supposed to be the second biggest event in Europe, set the tone for the "worst final" in Europe, from the lowest ranking of the participating teams to the content of the game that they couldn't bear to look at directly, to the low-level mistakes of the organisers after the game.