Man Utd already have celebration plans ahead of Tottenham Europa League final

Manchester United already know what they will do if they beat Tottenham in the Europa League final. Spurs and the Red Devils face off on May 21 in Bilbao in the Europa League final.

Tottenham will be hoping to end their 17-year-long trophy drought, and just as important is the Champions League qualification also on offer to the victor. Both sides have endured disastrous league campaigns, stuck in the bottom half of the table and seemingly a world away from looking like teams that can compete for European qualification through the league.

But there is a shortcut in the form of a Europa League final, and for that reason, it feels as though the stakes couldn’t be higher heading into the Basque Country fixture. The stakes are also just as high for Ange Postecoglou, who is fighting to keep his job, and Ruben Amorim could also do with some credit in the bank having struggled during his time so far.

Both of these teams have become all too accustomed to failure in recent times, and so both could be forgiven for celebrating any title success. But it seems United are not planning to go big with their celebrations should they get the better of Tottenham on May 21.

According to The Times, the Red Devils have decided against planning an open-top bus parade in the case they do win the Europa League. It has instead been decided that players, staff and their families would be invited to a celebratory barbecue at Carrington training ground.

Though, there are some factors at play, with United’s busy schedule forming part of the decision. Four days after the Europa League fina, United finish the season against Aston Villa on May 25, and head to Asia shortly after for their post-season tour, playing in May 28 at Kuala Lumpur, and in Hong Kong just two days later.

Tottenham have no such post-season tour, and so their schedule may allow for more lavish celebrations if they manage to see off United in Bilbao.

Postecoglou on Europa League success

Speaking to The Athletic about what Europa League success would mean to Tottenham, Postecoglou said: “You know what it does to the club and to the people. When you look at the historical backdrop of this club and what it’s been through on the last 20-odd years, I feel like it could be a turning point in terms of the way the club is perceived, but also more how it perceives itself, which I think is the biggest thing.

“Until you do that, irrespective of what else you accomplish, people will still say you haven’t won anything and in our game, that’s the thing that matters most when people assess where you’re at.”

The Spurs boss added: “From when I arrived, I’ve spoken a lot about the history of the club and what the challenge was for this group of players as it has been for every group of players since the club’s had success. You need to understand the history and the magnitude of the task at hand to understand how difficult it will be, but also how significant it can be.

“What you’ve got to try and do is break that cycle. But there has to be a higher purpose than shutting people’s mouths up. I often say to the players, at the end of your careers, you want to be able to go back to the clubs and know you’ve made an impact. The photos I see up on the walls at the (Tottenham Hotspur) stadium are all of Bill Nicholson (who won the 1972 UEFA Cup with Spurs), the 1984-winning team. Fair to say, a lot of them are in black and white. Can we get this group up on that wall?”

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