Manchester United’s remarkable 20-game run to the Europa League final – Drama, pintxos and a massive tifo

To think, Manchester United’s place in the Europa League final, via Porto, Istanbul, Plzen, Bucharest, San Sebastian, Lyon and Bilbao to the brink of qualification for the 2025-26 Champions League, all stemmed from Haji Wright being “a toenail” offside.

Had Coventry City’s American forward not strayed a fraction beyond Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s right foot at Wembley 13 months ago, United would have lost that FA Cup semi-final 4-3 and been deprived of the chance, against Manchester City five weeks later, to qualify for Europe in the last game of an otherwise painful campaign.

Instead, VAR intervened, a dramatic comeback by the Championship side from 3-0 down with an hour played was wiped out in added time of extra time and United then won a penalty shootout 4-2 to put them on the lengthy path to silverware.

Their tightrope walk has continued for 15 more games all the way to this final, back in Bilbao today (Wednesday), leaving United on the brink of reaching the Champions League via two back-doors in a row. It’s been a bit like the Glass Bridge Challenge in Squid Game, where one wrong step in these successive stretches of knock-out football would have left United tumbling into deep darkness.

Now, for the final part.

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The Europa League final on The Athletic

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Will it be a confident stride, a tentative tiptoe, or might Ruben Amorim’s side lose their footing at the last? Finishing 16th in this season’s Premier League and missing out on this trophy-shaped ticket to the Champions League would make this campaign cataclysmically bad. That jeopardy, combined with a similar outlook for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur, their opponents tonight, is what imbues this occasion with intrigue.

United insist Amorim will stay as their head coach, regardless of what happens in the game. Summer transfer talks are progressing, such as for Wolves’ Matheus Cunha and Liam Delap of Ipswich, with Amorim very involved.

On the eve of the game, the 40-year-old said: “I think people see that sometimes I’m thinking more in the club than myself. People who understand, especially the board, that we had a lot of issues, that in the context is really hard. I never worry about that. That is a part of being a coach. And the most important thing I know what I’m doing.”

But we’re talking about a club where people in charge have changed their minds on major decisions within the past year. Erik ten Hag, on the way out before winning that FA Cup final last May, knows about that. So too Dan Ashworth, their erstwhile and short-lived sporting director.

Ten Hag left United five months later than everybody expected, and his team’s early-season Europa League form was a significant factor. United started the competition’s new-format league phase with draws in their opening three matches against FC Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce, putting them 21st in the 36-team table and in danger of missing out on progression to the knockout phase in the new year.

Ten Hag had told executives that United should target winning Europe’s second-tier club tournament, and he genuinely believed he would go on to lift a third trophy in three seasons as the club’s manager. So when that confidence appeared misplaced, those at the top of United acted.

His assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy, as interim manager, got United’s first win in this competition, beating PAOK Salonika 2-0 at Old Trafford through two Amad goals, then Amorim was in charge three weeks later for the visit of Bodo/Glimt, eventual semi-finalists, and got a hint at what a wild ride he would experience in the rounds to come. United led 1-0 through Alejandro Garnacho, only to find themselves 2-1 down before half-time. Rasmus Hojlund turned the game back their way with a brace.

Viktoria Plzen away was then another comeback victory earned by a Hojlund double, and United needed a stoppage-time Bruno Fernandes goal to beat Rangers after the Scottish side had summoned an equaliser four minutes earlier to send jitters round Old Trafford with automatic qualification to the last-16 on the line.

United’s trip to FCSB was relatively straightforward, a night when Kobbie Mainoo shone as a No 10, and the travelling fans were happy to visit a city in Bucharest that is not often on the itinerary. Hundreds headed en masse to Therme Bucuresti, the thermal baths, for some warm-water relaxation.

The continental experiences continued in San Sebastian come the start of the knockout phase, where fans wandered the tight passages of the old town searching for the best pintxos and savouring Basque cheesecake.

Lyon had similar culinary quality, but at the stadium came the ugly side of watching British sides play abroad.

James Young, who was in the away end that night, says: “Ten minutes before full time, they wouldn’t let United fans use the toilets, which is ridiculous. Someone tried to kick the door in to use the toilet, police started coming out, teargassing the away end, held us in the ground for an hour afterwards. A really unpleasant experience. The problem is policing. A lot of forces abroad don’t know how to police fans properly.”

The atmosphere was altogether more welcoming in Bilbao for the semi-final’s first leg. Fans of both teams drank together in the streets afterwards, with Athletic Club fans congratulating their United counterparts on a 3-0 win, swapping phone numbers, and arranging to meet up again for the final.

For Mark Coenradie, who travels from the Netherlands for every home game at Old Trafford, not even suffering the very injury that has blighted several United players this season would keep him from attending that game three weeks ago. “After walking back to my hotel on the Wednesday night, I thought I sprained my ankle. The last 15 minutes, I was in a lot of pain. Next morning, the hotel called me a taxi to the hospital and I left there with a cast and crutches, as it turned out I’d actually broken a metatarsal (a bone in the foot).

“I went to the stadium anyway, obviously, and all the Basques were really nice and helpful — got me a wheelchair inside the stadium as I was exhausted by then.

“For the second leg, I had planned to take my sister and her family. I couldn’t really miss that. So after a long day, I limped in on my crutches and protective boot – and the whole group in the Stretford End started applauding me.”

The Old Trafford knockout nights were memorable, the second legs against Real Sociedad and Lyon each starting on a knife-edge after away draws. For the Lyon match, United unfurled a huge tifo that extended down the full height of the three-tier Sir Alex Ferguson Stand.

“It’s something we’ve talked about doing for a while,” says Richard McGagh, United’s director of fan engagement. “We want to build that connection between the fans and the players, and as you get to the knockout stages of European competitions, that feels like the moment to step things up.”

Current skipper Fernandes gave his time to run over the concept, which ended up being each of the five winning captains lifting trophies from United’s successful European campaigns.

McGagh adds: “We wanted it to be something that worked for the players as well as the fans, so that’s why we did it in conjunction with Bruno, as captain, to make sure he thought the design would work and get the desired effect, which is inspire the players as well as getting the crowd up, to create an atmosphere and give us the best possible chance of progression.

“We worked with people at the club who are longstanding season-ticket holders to come up with a concept, which is obviously around our five major European trophies, using that as inspiration for players to want to get to that same level. We shared that with Bruno and he was really happy with it. He looked at a couple of early options and then the final version, which he approved. He’s got a real interest.”

United’s singing section, The Red Army, had got the ball rolling by paying for pyros against Real Sociedad, and the club then covered the overall cost of the tifos for the games against Lyon and Athletic Club, as well as adding more explosive fireworks.

“For the semi-final one, people from Stretford End Flags submitted lots of designs that their followers had suggested,” McGagh explains. “There was one of those that we felt worked well, which was around celebrating those crazy last six minutes against Lyon. We were able to find the design that worked, which also had the crowd celebrating with the players, which is essentially what we’re trying to achieve with all this, that connection between first team and fans. If you can recreate that spirit, it’ll get you through any sort of game.

“Going forward, we’d love it to be even more fan-led. To do the first one at Old Trafford on that scale is a big undertaking.”

Organisers headed back to United’s roots to make it happen: “You get the tifo or flag, and you have to attach it to this netting. That’s a manual job that takes a dozen people six hours to do. That was done at the Cliff (United’s old training ground) with volunteers from Stretford End Flags, our Muslim supporters club, and our youth supporters club, who all gave up their afternoon. It was really cool to see. And then they take pride when that gets deployed on the night by a rope system that hoists it up.”

United’s hopes looked to be hanging by a thread when Lyon struck twice in extra time to lead 4-2 on the night (6-4 on aggregate) with six minutes left.

A small sidenote from that night, not told before, is how United allowed Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso to watch the rest of the game from the directors’ box, just behind the dugouts, after he was sent off just before the whistle on 90 minutes. But his celebrations as the tie turned were so aggressively exuberant that some people close by felt he should be removed. As United staged their remarkable comeback, culminating in Harry Maguire’s winning header, fans in front of the section made sure Tolisso saw their smiling faces.

A firework went off early before the Athletic Club home leg, and things didn’t go according to plan for United on the pitch until Amorim made a triple substitution and Mason Mount settled the tie. Afterwards, with the stadium nearly empty, Luke Shaw took his son out for a kickabout with Mount — two players who have wrestled with injuries getting fit in time for a chance of silverware.

United are not paying for their wider workforce to attend the game, unlike Paris Saint-Germain, who will take 600 employees to the Champions League final in Munich next week.

But it was the same for United in Stockholm in 2017, their previous Europa League final in front of a full-capacity stadium. There will be a big screen and food voucher for staff at a venue in Manchester, just as was organised eight years ago, albeit there was more glamour under the previous regime, with Take That’s Gary Barlow booked to perform. The event was cancelled, however, following the terrorist bomb attack at Manchester Arena the night before.

The devastation of that tragedy, where 22 people including children died, meant there was no trophy parade either after Jose Mourinho’s side beat Ajax, 2-0. Nor had there been one in 2008, after United’s most recent Champions League final win, although that decision, enforced by Manchester’s city council, still irritates those of a red persuasion.

There will be no open-top bus tour if United beat Spurs this evening either. A barbecue for staff and players will mark the occasion instead.

The cost of getting to Bilbao has stung for the fans, with direct return flights hitting £1,500 ($2,000) and hotel rooms reaching the same price, so people have got creative.

Michael O’Brien, a self-employed electrician who has done every European away trip this season, kept costs down to £209 by flying from Manchester to Zurich in Switzerland and then to Spain’s capital Madrid, staying in a hostel there overnight Monday, and then getting a train up to Bilbao on Tuesday morning. He added a pre-game bus across to San Sebastian to the trip, too. “Who doesn’t want to stuff their face with pintxos the night before a final?,” he says.

For the way back, he is going via Marrakech in Morocco, north Africa — a different continent. “It was simply the cheapest way to get home,” he says. “I’m Bilbao-Marrakech-Barcelona, and then back to Manchester. It’s going to be a 17-and-a-half-hour slog home, but I had to renew my season-ticket last week, so the purse strings were very tight for booking this final trip.”

Ryan Duncan, from Aberdeen, became a season-ticket holder this year and has been getting buses and trains to Manchester from his home city in northern Scotland. After all those miles for little return, he is in Bilbao hoping for a joyous finale. “I’m a firm believer that the lows make the highs feel so much better, so fingers crossed,” he says.

He is getting a 2am bus from Bilbao to Madrid tonight after the game, then a 7.55am train on to Malaga, from where he will fly back to Aberdeen. “Hotel prices on the night of the game were ridiculous, so I figured I’d just travel through the night and sleep on the bus,” he says. “Malaga is one of the few places you can fly to Aberdeen direct, so that’s why I’m travelling from the top to the bottom of Spain.”

This is what football does to fans, with thousands making their own personal odysseys via various routes and means.

For United’s players, the winding journey to get here has also included the epic 4-3 extra-time win over arch-rivals Liverpool in last season’s FA Cup quarter-finals. In all, across the two competitions, United have gone unbeaten in 20 matches to reach this point, scoring at least one goal in every game.

The Premier League is the real measure of success but, after a run like that, lifting the Europa League trophy would be greatly cherished.

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Manchester United’s remarkable 20-game run to the Europa League final

Jan 8 2024 FA Cup third round v Wigan (away) – Won 2-0

Jan 28 FA Cup fourth round v Newport County (away) – Won 4-2

Feb 28 FA Cup fifth round v Nottingham Forest (away) – Won 1-0

March 17 FA Cup quarter-final v Liverpool (home) – Won 4-3 (aet)

April 21 FA Cup semi-final v Coventry City (Wembley) – Won 4-2 on pens, (3-3 aet)

May 25 FA Cup final v Manchester City (Wembley) – Won 2-1

Sept 25 Europa League group stage v Twente (home) – Drew 1-1 (10th place)

Oct 3 Europa League group stage v Porto (away) – Drew 3-3 (21st)

Oct 24 Europa League group stage v Fenerbahce (away) – Drew 1-1 (21st)

Nov 7 Europa League group stage v PAOK (home) – Won 2-0 (15th)

Nov 28 Europa League group stage v Bodo/Glimt (home) – Won 3-2 (12th)

Dec 12 Europa League group stage v Viktoria Plzen (away) – Won 2-1 (7th)

Jan 23 2025 Europa League group stage v Glasgow Rangers (home) – Won 2-1 (4th)

Jan 30 Europa League group stage v FCSB (away) – Won 2-0 (3rd)

March 6 Europa League last 16 first leg v Real Sociedad (away) – Drew 1-1

March 13 Europa League last 16 second leg v Real Sociedad (home) – Won 4-1

April 10 Europa League quarter-final first leg v Lyon (away) – Drew 2-2

April 17 Europa League quarter-final second leg v Lyon (home) – Won 5-4 (aet)

May 1 Europa League semi-final first leg v Athletic Club (away) – Won 3-0

May 8 Europa League semi-final second leg v Athletic Club (home) – Won 4-1

(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)

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