On Wednesday night in Bilbao, two of English football clubs will attempt to turn ridicule into relief when Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United contest the UEFA Europa League final, an occasion already dubbed “El Clownico” by detractors who delight in pointing out how far both clubs have fallen from grace. It’s a match drenched in irony between the two teams, each limping through a mediocre domestic campaign, now clinging to the idea that a secondary European trophy could somehow rescue their seasons. And yet, beneath all the mockery lies a very real incentive to turn the absurd season into tangible success.
Tottenham enter this final having beaten United in all three of their meetings this season. A Premier League double (3–0 at Old Trafford; 1–0 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) and a 4–3 victory in the League Cup. Those results underline Spurs’ psychological edge, but hardly mask the woeful inconsistency they have had in the league campaign this season, as they sit 17th from 37 games played. Manchester United currently 16th, meanwhile, has also endured a chaotic campaign that looks set to conclude with at most a fifteenth-place finish, the club’s worst in decades, and a miserable haul of just 10 wins from 37 league matches so far.
If this feels less like a sporting spectacle and more like a car crash dressed as a final, that’s because it is. Tottenham’s trademark “Ange-ball” high press has often yielded possession rates north of 55 percent, yet their defensive fragility undercuts any offensive flair, particularly when key creators are missing. James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall have combined for more than 120 open-play chances created this season, but none will step onto the San Mamés turf on Wednesday. With Spurs’ creative engine partly sidelined, they must lean on Son Heung-min and Pape Sarr to spark transition breaks against a United side that has shown equal parts stubborn resilience and tactical drift.
Manchester United’s route to the final has been defined by moments rather than methodology. In 14 Europa League fixtures, they remain unbeaten (nine wins, five draws), the club’s longest single-season European unbeaten run. Over two legs over Athletic Bilbao in the semi final, they were 7-1 winners. And yet domestically, Ruben Amorim’s men look like a team without an identity, vulnerable to the very counterattacks Spurs thrive on. It promises to be a frantic midfield tussle where small margins, like a wayward pass, a momentary lapse in concentration, or a stroke of luck could decide everything.
Football has always been theatre, a spectacle of drama, tension, and emotion. But behind the curtain, it’s money that holds the pen. The Europa League might be the continent’s second-tier competition, but it comes with a financial structure that rewards progress with increasing generosity.
There’s a base fee for simply making it to the group stage (€3.63 million), and then the money climbs with every positive result: €630,000 for a win, €210,000 for a draw. Knockout rounds bring further rewards. Half a million euros for reaching the round of 32, €1.2 million for the last 16, €1.8 million at the quarter-final stage, and €2.8 million for making it to the final four. The runner-up takes home €4.6 million. Win it all, and you bank €8.6 million.
Not bad. But the real jackpot lies in what comes next.
Lifting the Europa League trophy brings not just prestige but a golden ticket to the Champions League. That step up is conservatively valued at around £100 million, a sum built on matchday revenues, enhanced broadcast deals, and sponsorship bonuses that tend to follow Europe’s elite stage. For clubs with financial wounds to heal, it can be the difference between merely surviving and actually breathing again.
Manchester United knows this all too well. Their latest financial results, for the quarter ending December 31, 2024, showed a 12 percent drop in revenues. The £14.5 million they spent to sack Erik ten Hag didn’t help. Nor did the decision to cut 250 staff as part of wider cost-saving measures. For a club of United’s stature, a Champions League return is not just about pride, but it’s a financial necessity.
It’s a similar tale in north London. Tottenham Hotspur’s revenues dipped 4 percent last year, down to £528.2 million. Losses after tax, though, narrowed from £86.8 million to £26.2 million, a sign, perhaps, that Daniel Levy and ENIC are finding ways to work within the Premier League’s financial fair play boundaries. But it was still their fourth consecutive year in the red. Another season outside of the Champions League, and the pressure intensifies.
For both United and Spurs, this season’s Europa League final is more than a shot at silverware. It’s a financial lifeline. One match. One trophy. One hundred million reasons to win.
What makes this Europa League final worth watching isn’t just the trophy or the cash, but the weight behind it all. The fans travelling to Bilbao aren’t just there for a game, they’re carrying years of disappointment and hope in the same breath.
United fans have been battered by years of chaos at the top. For them, winning this cup won’t fix any of the mess, but it’ll be something real to grab onto and maybe help their rebuild.
Spurs fans, meanwhile, are desperate for something to show for years of near misses and empty promises. Seventeen years without a trophy isn’t just a stat, it’s a huge wound. This final feels like their last chance to shut down the critics and show that “Angeball” isn’t just talk.
This final is about more than silverware. For United, a win would give Ruben Amorim a bit of breathing room, a chance to steady a season that’s been anything but failure. For Spurs, it’s validation. Without it, they risk falling back into the same old cycle of good football, exciting moments, and nothing to celebrate.
This isn’t just a game. It’s everything.
This final might be embarrassing in idea, but not in consequence. Someone will lift a trophy. Someone will claim a place in next season’s elite. And someone, whether it’s Daniel Levy or Sir Jim Ratcliffe, will look at the ledger and whisper “that’ll do.”
The truth is, this is a final that neither Tottenham nor Manchester United truly deserve. Their seasons have been defined by inconsistency, messes, and a parade of shame. But football doesn’t always hand out trophies to the most deserving. Sometimes it just hands them out.
Image Credit: @EuropaLeague on X
So on Wednesday night, in a stadium nestled in the Basque Country, someone will win. The banter will fly. The memes will flow. But one club will stagger home with a European trophy and a golden ticket to the Champions League. The other will be left picking up the pieces of a campaign gone awry.
Because in the end, this is a final nobody deserves, but somebody has to win.
