Tottenham beat Man United to win Europa League
Tottenham Hotspur have ended their 17-year wait for a trophy with victory against Manchester United in the Europa League final.
Brennan Johnson scored the game’s only goal, with an inadvertent touch from Luke Shaw, in the 42nd minute in Bilbao.
It was backs to the wall for Spurs in the second half with Micky van de Ven making the stand-out defensive contribution, soaring high to clear Rasmus Hojlund’s goalbound header off the line.
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But they got the job done, with Son Heung-min becoming the first Tottenham captain to lift a trophy since Ledley King in 2008. Son will now lead his side out in next season’s Champions League.
As for Manchester United, they will go without European football next season after the worst Premier League campaign in their history.
By winning the Europa League final, Tottenham Hotspur have banked around £5million ($6.7m), on top of the £30m ($40.3m) they’ve earned in the Europa League to date.
Then there is little over £3m ($4m) for qualifying to face the Champions League winners in August’s Super Cup.
The real financial prize will come next season though.
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As an example, Manchester United earned £53.8m ($72.2m) via European matches during their last Champions League year — a season when they finished bottom of their group with one win in the six games, and came before UEFA introduced an even more lucrative format.
In terms of estimating next year’s earnings from a Champions League spot, The Athletic estimates Spurs’ minimum earnings to be £60m ($80.5m), even if they were to lose every game.
First, there was a searching ball over the top for Amad that was nodded away by Micky van de Ven, then a poorly judged square pass to Casemiro that was easily intercepted.
Bruno Fernandes was far from solely at fault for the build-up to Tottenham’s goal, but his part summed up a night when everything Manchester United’s captain tried, failed to come off.
That’s the player Fernandes is. He will take risks. He will look to play the percentages for the benefit of his team-mates. On the whole, it’s hugely beneficial.
But on an isolated occasion like a season-defining European final, those percentages can turn against you. Especially when the opposition shuts him down as effectively as Pape Matar Sarr and Rodrigo Bentancur did in midfield.
The Portuguese averages 50 completed passes a game. He managed just 11 during the first half of this final.
Fernandes has carried this United side throughout this Europa League campaign, throughout the season, but even he could not carry them over the finish line.
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