Europa League final: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United facts

The Spanish city of Bilbao is the venue for an all-English UEFA Europa League final between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Spurs are chasing a first European honour since 1984, while United are hoping to repeat their 2017 triumph in the second all-English final of the Europa League era. The winners will also qualify for next season's UEFA Champions League.

Ange Postecoglou's Tottenham swept aside Bodø/Glimt in the semi-finals. Brennan Johnson scored after 39 seconds of the first leg, the fastest goal in a Europa League semi-final, to set up a 3-1 home win before Dominic Solanke (63) and Pedro Porro (69) sealed a 2-0 victory in Norway that has led them to a fourth final in the competition but a first in the Europa League era.

United are aiming to win the Europa League for a second time as they return to Estadio de San Mamés just 20 days after beating Athletic Club 3-0 at the same venue in the first leg of their semi-final. They followed that up with a 4-1 victory at Old Trafford thanks to goals from Mason Mount (72, 90+1), Casemiro (80) and Rasmus Højlund (85) to seal a 7-1 aggregate win.

Previous meetings 

UEFA competition
Tottenham wins 1
Manchester United wins 1
Draws 0
Tottenham goals 3
Manchester United goals 4

1963/64 European Cup Winners' Cup second round
Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Manchester United
Manchester United 4-1 Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham took a two-goal lead to Old Trafford following the first leg but two goals apiece from David Herd (7 53) and Bobby Charlton (77 88) sealed a 4-3 aggregate victory for United.

In all competitions, Tottenham are unbeaten across their last six meetings with United (W4 D2), winning 3-0 at Old Trafford in September and 1-0 at home in February in the Premier League this season. They were also 4-3 victors in the League Cup quarter-finals in December.

Overall, however, United have had the upper hand against Spurs, winning 95 fixtures to the Londoners' 57 with 52 draws.

Form guide

Tottenham Hotspur

European record versus English clubs: W4 D1 L4 F12 A14

Tottenham's last meeting with English opposition in UEFA competition was the final of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League, when they went down 0-2 to Liverpool at Estadio Metropolitano in Madrid.

The North London side beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in the final of the 1971/72 UEFA Cup to become the inaugural winners of the competition, winning the two-legged final 3-2 on aggregate (2-1 a, 1-1 h).

This is Tottenham's first UEFA match in Bilbao; they have failed to win in each of their previous seven visits to Spain in European competition (D3 L4).

Spurs are back in Europe this season after missing out in 2023/24. They finished fourth in the league phase (W5 D2 L1) to qualify directly to the last 16, where they were drawn against AZ Alkmaar.

A 1-0 first-leg defeat in Alkmaar left Postecoglou's side with work to do at home, but a 3-1 victory secured safe passage to their first appearance in a UEFA quarter-final for six years, where they overcame 2022 winners Eintracht Frankfurt (1-1 h, 1-0 a).

Tottenham's ninth UEFA competition semi-final brought them up against the competition's surprise package Bodø/Glimt, beating them 5-1 on aggregate (3-1 h, 2-0 a) to reach a sixth European final and a fourth in the UEFA Cup/Europa League.

Spurs were the first English club to win a UEFA competition when they defeated Atlético de Madrid 5-1 in the 1962/63 Cup Winners' Cup final. They are the 22nd club to reach the Europa League final.

The Lilywhites have lost only two of their last 14 European matches (W9 D3), winning four of their last five (D1).

Spurs have scored more goals (342) than any other team in UEFA Cup/Europa League history. Their second-leg victory against Bodø/Glimt was their 97th win in UEFA Cup/Europa League history, equalling the competition record held by Roma.

Son Heung-min made his 67th European appearance for Tottenham in the quarter-final first leg, taking him level with record holder Harry Kane.

Tottenham's record in three UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L2:
4-3 v Anderlecht, 1983/84 UEFA Cup final
5-6 v PSV Eindhoven, 2007/08 UEFA Cup round of 16
1-4 v Basel, 2012/13 Europa League quarter-final

Manchester United

European record versus English clubs: W5 D2 L2 F13 A9

Manchester United last met Premier League opponents in Europe in the 2015/16 Europa League round of 16, losing 1-3 on aggregate to Liverpool (0-2 a, 1-1 h).

This is United's second all-English European final. They beat Chelsea 6-5 on penalties in the 2007/08 Champions League following a 1-1 draw at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium.

United's only previous UEFA final played in Spain was the famous 2-1 Champions League victory against Bayern München in 1999 in Barcelona.

The Red Devils have lost just once on their last nine visits to Spain (W5 D3).

The English side finished third in the league phase with five wins and three defeats, making them the only team to remain unbeaten. That led them to a round of 16 tie against Real Sociedad, a 1-1 draw in Spain followed by a 4-1 home victory in which Bruno Fernandes scored a hat-trick.

United's quarter-final with Lyon was their 28th in UEFA competition, a new English record; they previously shared the mark with Liverpool. A 2-2 draw in France was followed by a dramatic 5-4 comeback win after extra time in the second leg, making it the highest-scoring match in the Europa League era which sealed a 7-6 aggregate victory.

This is United's third appearance in a Europa League final; they beat Ajax 2-0 in 2016/17 and lost 10-11 on penalties to Villarreal in 2020/21 following a 1-1 draw. They are aiming to become the fourth English team to win multiple UEFA Cup/Europa League titles after Liverpool (3), Tottenham (2) and Chelsea (2).

United have lost just one of their last 25 Europa League matches (W17 D7) and are the only unbeaten team in this season's competition with nine wins and five draws from their 14 games.

Only one of the Red Devils' last 65 European games have finished goalless.

Fernandes is now the joint-third highest scorer in Europa League history with 27 goals. He is level with Romelu Lukaku and behind only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (34) and Radamel Falcao (30).

Fernandes is joint-top goalscorer in this season's competition on seven goals alongside Ayoub El Kaabi of Olympiacos and Bodø/Glimt's Kasper Høgh.

Ruben Amorim, who succeeded Erik ten Hag at United in November, is aiming to become the first Portuguese coach to win the Europa League since José Mourinho did so with United in 2016/17.

United's record in four UEFA penalty shoot-outs is W1 L3:
4-5 v Videoton, 1984/85 UEFA Cup quarter-final
3-4 v Torpedo Moskva, 1992/93 UEFA Cup first round
6-5 v Chelsea, 2007/08 Champions League final
10-11 v Villarreal, 2020/21 Europa League final

Previous UEFA finals

Tottenham (W3 L2)

1962/63 Cup Winners' Cup – W 5-1 vs Atlético de Madrid
1971/72 UEFA Cup – W 3-2 agg vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (2-1 a, 1-1 h)
1973/74 UEFA Cup – L 2-4 agg vs Feyenoord (2-2 h, 0-2 a)
1983/84 UEFA Cup – D 2-2 agg vs Anderlecht aet, W 4-3 pens (1-1 a, 1-1 h) 2018/19 Champions League – L 0-2 vs Liverpool

Manchester United (W7 L7)

1967/68 European Cup – W 4-1 aet vs Benfica
1968 European/South American Cup – L 1-2 agg vs Estudiantes (0-1 a, 1-1 h) 1990/91 Cup Winners' Cup – W 2-1 vs Barcelona
1991 Super Cup W 1-0 vs Crvena Zvezda
1998/99 Champions League – W 2-1 vs Bayern München
1999 Super Cup – L 0-1 vs Lazio
1999 European/South American Cup – W 1-0 vs Palmeiras
2007/08 Champions League – D 1-1 aet vs Chelsea, W 6-5 pens)
2008 Super Cup – L 1-2 vs Zenit
2008/09 Champions League – L 0-2 vs Barcelona
2010/11 Champions League – L 1-3 vs Barcelona
2016/17 Europa League – W 2-0 vs Ajax
2017 Super Cup – L 1-2 vs Real Madrid
2020/21 Europa League – D 1-1 aet vs Villarreal, L 10-11 pens)

Links and trivia

United's Christian Eriksen spent six and a half seasons at Tottenham between August 2013 and January 2020, making 305 appearances and scoring 69 goals.

Eriksen played in Tottenham's 2-0 defeat by Liverpool in the 2018/19 Champions League final.

Have played together:
James Maddison & Harry Maguire (Leicester 2018/19)
Timo Werner & Mason Mount (Chelsea 2020–22)
Mathys Tel & Noussair Mazraoui, Matthijs de Ligt (Bayern 2022–24)
Pedro Porro & Manuel Ugarte (Sporting CP 2021–23)
Cristian Romero & Amad Diallo (Atalanta 2020/21)

International team-mates:
James Maddison, Dominic Solanke & Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Kobbie Mainoo, Mason Mount (England)
Mickey van de Ven & Matthijs de Ligt, Joshua Zirkzee (Netherlands)
Dejan Kulusevski & Victor Lindelöf (Sweden)
Cristian Romero & Lisandro Martínez, Alejandro Garnacho (Argentina)
Richarlison & Casemiro (Brazil)
Rodrigo Bentancur & Manuel Ugarte (Uruguay)

Final focus

This is the 16th Europa League final. The previous 15 have yielded 43 goals at an average of 2.87 per game. The biggest winning margin is three goals – 4-1 by Chelsea against Arsenal in 2018/19 and 3-0 by Atalanta against Bayer Leverkusen last season and twice by Atlético de Madrid, against Athletic Club (2012) and Marseille (2018). The highest number of goals scored in the fixture is five – Sevilla's 3-2 victory over Dnipro in 2015, that 4-1 win for Chelsea in 2019, and another 3-2 success for Sevilla in 2019/20 against Inter.

England are guaranteed a fourth Europa League title and a first since Chelsea beat Arsenal in another all-English final in 2018/19. Only five countries – Spain (seven wins), England (three), Portugal, Germany and Italy (one apiece) – have provided previous winners.

In 2018/19 Chelsea became the first Europa League winners to go through the season undefeated (W12 D3). Villarreal emulated that feat in 2020/21 (W11 D3), as did Eintracht in 2021/22 (W7 D6). Manchester United can add to that list if they lift the trophy; Tottenham have lost twice.

There has never been a sending-off in the Europa League final.

There have been two own goals in the fixture. In 2022/23 Sevilla's equaliser against Roma came from Gianluca Mancini putting through his own net, while the first was scored by Inter's Romelu Lukaku in their 2019/20 defeat by Sevilla.

Three penalties have been awarded in the Europa League final, all converted – by Óscar Cardozo for Benfica against Chelsea in 2013, Eden Hazard for Chelsea against Arsenal in 2019, and Lukaku for Inter against Sevilla in 2020.

Four Europa League finals have been decided by penalty shoot-outs – Sevilla defeating Benfica 4-2 on spot kicks after a 0-0 draw in Turin in 2014, Villarreal overcoming Manchester United 11-10 after a 1-1 draw in Gdańsk in 2021, Eintracht beating Rangers 5-4 after another 1-1 draw in Seville in 2022 before Sevilla again triumphing 4-1 against Roma last year.

The only other final to have gone into extra time was the inaugural fixture in 2010, when Atlético overcame Fulham 2-1 in Hamburg.

In 2023/24 Atalanta's Ademola Lookman became the first player to score a hat-trick in a Europa League final. Seven players have scored twice – Diego Forlán (Atlético 2010), Radamel Falcao (Atlético 2012), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla 2015), Coke (Sevilla 2016), Antoine Griezmann (Atlético 2018), Hazard (Chelsea 2019) and Luuk de Jong (Sevilla 2020).

Falcao is the only player to have scored in two Europa League finals, having struck Porto's winner in 2011. He is also the only two-time winner of the Player of the Match award (2011, 2012).