Tottenham Hotspur will face Manchester United in an all-English Europa League final at the San Mames in Bilbao
Tottenham Hotspur are through to the UEFA Europa League final after making light work of Bodo/Glimt in the semi-final second leg at the Aspmyra Stadion on Thursday night.
Spurs took a 3-1 first-leg lead to Norway and, despite playing on a tricky plastic pitch of the Aspmyra Stadion, they won 2-0 and 5-1 on aggregate. The North Londoners did very well to contain the home side until the 60th minute, before providing the hammer blow through Dominic Solanke, who poked home in the 63rd minute to give the travelling Tottenham contingent a chance to celebrate.
Pedro Porro then scored with a tad fortunate cross-shot effort six minutes later to seal a memorable deal in the Arctic Circle. The win saw Tottenham set up a final against Manchester United in Bilbao later this month.
Ange Postecoglou faced the media after the game. When asked if he and his team are mentally ready to face Manchester United in the final, the Australian tactician told Football London:
“A final is a unique standalone game, it’s a bit different to everything you do in the build up to it. But if you’re talking about resilience and adversity, this group of players have had it in bucket loads this year and we’ve still found a way to deal with it.
“We’ve been losing players, key players and yet they’ve still found a way to stick together and believe in what we’re doing. That gives me the belief that the challenge we have of trying to overcome a tough opponent in a massive game I know the lads have it in them to rise to that.”
Tottenham were defensively solid and organised, barely giving Bodo/Glimt any openings to make inroads. With Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven back in the XI and fully fit, the Lilywhites’ defending was up to the scratch. The clean sheet away from home, in a hostile atmosphere, was an icing on the cake.
Manchester United awaits Ange’s side in the final in Spain later this month. The North Londoners have beaten the Red Devils three times this season (twice in the Premier League plus dumped them out of the Carabao Cup). So, that certainly gives Ange’s boys a psychological edge over them, and the team should be confident of betting them again.
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If Spurs do that, it would be for the first time in the club’s rich history that we have beaten Man United four times in a single season alone. However, Ruben Amorim’s side would be no pushovers, having made it to the showpiece event by beating Athletic Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate.
All in all, it would be a mouthwatering contest, where our players have to turn up no matter what and make the fans proud.
