EUROPA League
Amorim offers to quit Man United
Manchester United boss Ruben Amorim said that he was confident he was still the right man for the job after the club’s woeful Europa League loss to Tottenham Hotspur, but would quit with no compensation if the club’s board believed otherwise.
Amorim and his men had hoped to salvage something from a woeful season that has them languishing 16th in the Premier League with one game remaining.
Instead, Brennan Johnson bundled in a first-half goal in a 1-0 win that clinched Spurs a spot in the Champions League next season — leaving United out of European football entirely.
“In this moment, I am not going to be here defending myself, it is not my style,” Amorim told reporters. “I cannot do it, it is really hard for me.
“So I have nothing to show to the fans and say ‘I’m going to improve because of this, I have these problems,’ I will not do nothing.
“In this moment, it is a little bit of faith. Let’s see. I’m always open, if the board and the fans feel that I am not the right guy, I will go the next day without any conversation about compensation.”
Missing out on the Champions League is costly with co-owner Jim Ratcliffe estimating the financial benefit of qualification between 80 and 100 million pounds ($107 – $134 million) in broadcast, matchday and commercial income.
“It is tough for a club like us not to be in the Champions League but now we have to deal with that with a different plan, even with the market,” Amorim said. “But that means we have more time, more time to think and work during the week and to be better in the Premier League. This will be our focus.
“I know it’s going to be tough, I know we lost to an English team, I know the pressure of the fans is going to be really short in the next season. But I guarantee you I will not quit, I will not go away, so I am really confident.”
United played like a team more afraid to lose than one focused on winning on Wednesday, particularly in the first half, which proved costly as terrible defending led to Spurs’ goal.
United fared better in the second half and threatened to equalise in the dying minutes with Rasmus Hojlund, Alejandro Garnacho and Luke Shaw all forcing terrific saves.
“I was always really honest with you guys. We did not perform perfectly today but we were better than the opponent,” Amorim said. “In the second half we tried everything with the centre defenders wide, crosses, going inside the box. I think today was not the day.”
There have been questions about whether United have gone backwards since the Portuguese succeeded Erik ten Hag after the former manager’s sacking in late-October.
“I don’t agree (that we are going backwards),” Amorim said. “We’ve had some bad results but I think we have improved in certain areas. We were competitive in more games that we didn’t score in.
“I understand I’m a young guy. But I also understand that if we have the chances that we had in the second half, if we managed to score one, the game should have been different, this press conference should be so different.”
-Reuters
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Brennan Johnson’s bundled first-half goal helped Tottenham Hotspur win a scrappy Europa League final 1-0 against Manchester United on Wednesday as they cast aside their domestic woes to end a painful 17-year trophy drought.
In a season where both clubs plummeted down the Premier League, Tottenham emerged from a dismal campaign with something to celebrate as well as a lucrative berth in next season’s Champions League.
It was Spurs’ first silverware since the 2008 League Cup and their first European trophy since their 1984 UEFA Cup success.
Johnson scored in the 42nd minute when United’s defence crumbled as Pape Sarr swung in a cross while goalkeeper Andre Onana remained rooted to his line. Johnson and United defender Luke Shaw rushed in and the ball appeared to glance off both of them and in, past Onana’s desperate swipe.
The goal was as scrappy as the game in a matchup of teams who have had wildly disappointing Premier League seasons, with United languishing in 16th and Spurs 17th.
Europa League – Final – Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester United – San Mames, Bilbao, Spain – May 21, 2025 Manchester United’s Alejandro Garnacho looks dejected after the match REUTERS/Vincent West
United’s Rasmus Hojlund had a terrific chance to equalise with a header midway through the second half, but Spurs’ Micky van de Ven leapt for a stunning clearance off the line.
United almost equalised at the death but Shaw’s header was saved by a diving Guglielmo Vicario, who had earlier denied an Alejandro Garnacho bullet strike from the edge of the box with a great reflex save.
“Ever since I came here, it’s been ‘Tottenham are a good team but can never get it done’. We got it done,” goalscorer Johnson told TNT Sports.
“Honestly, this is what it means. It means so much. All the fans get battered, we get battered, for not winning a trophy, for not winning anything. But we had to get the first one in a while today. I’m so happy.”
POSTECOGLOU VINDICATION
Tottenham’s win also offered vindication to embattled manager Ange Postecoglou, who had said throughout the campaign that he always wins trophies in his second season at a club.
The victory also rewards Tottenham with Champions League qualification for next season, a remarkable achievement for a side languishing just above the Premier League relegation zone after an alarming 21 defeats.
Their triumph may well serve as the crucial lifeline that their 59-year-old Greek-Australian manager Postecoglou needed to cement his future at the club.
“I’m still kind of taking it all in,” the manager said.
“I know what it means for this football club… I could sense some nervousness in everybody at the club, because they’ve been in the situation before. And until you take that monkey off your back, you never understand what it feels like.”
For Manchester United, the defeat compounds a season of deep frustration.
Mired near the bottom of the Premier League, the Red Devils now face the prospect of a campaign without European competition, leaving Ruben Amorim, United’s beleaguered coach, to rebuild at Old Trafford without the draw of European nights.
The final presented a fascinating spectacle: two Premier League underachievers transformed into European contenders and it was Tottenham who proved that European football can provide unexpected redemption.
Amorim’s side will be thoroughly sick of the sight of Spurs, who extended their unbeaten run against United to seven matches, completing an unprecedented seasonal sweep with four wins in four encounters, a first in their history against the Manchester club.
As jubilant Spurs captain Son Heung-min lifted his first trophy with the club and celebrated with his teammates beneath cascading confetti in the balmy evening air of Bilbao, Tottenham’s long-suffering faithful rejoiced.
After 41 years without European silverware and countless near-misses, they finally had a night to remember.
-Reuters
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It may not have been intended. However, the final match of the Europa League symbolically marks the 121st anniversary of the founding of the world football governing body, FIFA.
The world body was founded on 21 May 1904 in Paris by six organisations – Football associations of Belgium, Denmark, France and the Netherlands as well as an athletics organisation, the Union des Societes Francaisses de Sports Athletiques and the Real Madrid Football Club.
Tottenham and Manchester United will meet at San Mamés Stadium, Bilbao, as the 2024/25 UEFA Europa League champion is crowned.
This is the second all-English final of the Europa League era.
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Tottenham were preparing for their last European final when an all-English final last took place in this competition in 2019.
The result was a 4-1 Chelsea defeat of Arsenal. Spurs contested an all-English final of their own three days later, but dreams of a first Champions League title were dashed by a 2-0 loss to Liverpool.
But now, hopes of a happier return to a European showpiece and a first continental honour since 1984 are boosted by the fine form of Ange Postecoglou’s men against their final opponents – Spurs victorious through two Premier League meetings and an English League Cup quarter-final against Man Utd this season.
Unbeaten in the Europa League this season, Manchester United have mixed commanding performances and dramatic comebacks on their road to the Europa League final, but Ruben Amorim will not take solace in that fact if they cannot overcome Spurs.
“If we don’t win the final, it means nothing for us,” the Portuguese coach said after an emphatic semi-final victory over Athletic Club.
The Red Devils won this competition under his compatriot José Mourinho in 2017, but more will remember the 2021 final defeat to Villarreal – Bruno Fernandes captaining the side in Gdansk, while Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelöf started and Harry Maguire and Amad Diallo watched on from the bench.
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