An all-English Europa League final is very much on the cards, as Manchester United and Tottenham both take healthy-looking leads into the second legs of their semi-finals this Thursday.
United entertain Athletic Bilbao at Old Trafford, while Spurs travel to the north of Norway to take on Bodo/Glimt.
It’s looking good for a winner-takes-all Premier League shootout for Champions League qualification in the Europa League final; here’s our fact- and stat-filled look-ahead to those semi-final second legs!
Manchester United (3) v (0) Athletic Bilbao (Thursday, 8pm BST)
Manchester United enter the second leg of their tie with Athletic Bilbao holding a commanding 3-0 lead, after comfortably dispatching the 10-man LaLiga side in the Basque Country last week.
Ruben Amorim made eight changes to his starting 11 for Sunday’s 4-3 Premier League loss at Brentford, as he made clear that United’s priority is the Europa League – which they need to win to secure Champions League qualification for next season.
One would expect, then, another raft of changes for this huge Old Trafford clash, as United aim not only to reach their first European final since 2021 – when they lost on penalties to Villarreal in the final of the same competition – but also maintain their record as the only unbeaten team in any UEFA competition this term.
United blew a two-goal lead before eventually beating Lyon 5-4 at the end of an incredibly dramatic period of extra time in the quarter-finals, but only once in their history have they surrendered a first-leg advantage as big as this in Europe – back in 1964, when they were thrashed 5-0 in the second leg of their Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final against Porto after winning the first leg 4-1.
And on that occasion, United played the second leg away from home – Athletic will have to pull off a comeback for the ages if they’re to reach the final at their own San Mames Stadium.
Bodo/Glimt (1) v (3) Tottenham (Thursday, 8pm BST)
Just like Manchester United, Tottenham know that Europa League glory is their only route to Champions League football in 2025/26; they’re also dreaming of ending a 17-year trophy drought.
Bodo/Glimt’s late goal in North London last week has made Spurs’ task a bit less straightforward than it was looking, as Ange Postecoglou and co. head to the Arctic Circle to face the Norwegian champions on their artificial pitch.
Spurs have won five of their previous eight European semi-finals – most recently fighting back from the brink of elimination to knock out Ajax in sensational fashion in the last four of the 2018/19 Champions League – advancing on each of the three occasions that they’ve won the first leg.
The visitors are hopeful of having Dominic Solanke fit for this one after he missed Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw at West Ham; the striker has scored in each of his side’s last two Europa League games, scoring three goals in four outings in all competitions following an 11-match goal drought.
As for Bodo/Glimt, they’ve already made history by becoming the first Norwegian club to reach a major European semi, but they’ll want more – and striker Kasper Waarts Hogh enters this encounter as the joint top scorer in the 2024/25 Europa League with seven goals.
