Tottenham Hotspur finally broke their 16-year running trophy drought by beating Manchester United 1-0 in the Europa League final.
Brennan Johnson’s strike will be eternally remembered by Tottenham fans as they made history in Bilbao.
As for Manchester United, their woes continue under Ruben Amorim — as their latest defeat caps off one of their worst-ever seasons as a club.
United were the favourites against Spurs but much like Crystal Palace and Newcastle United this season, the underdogs have stunned the world by coming out on top.
However, when picking his combined XI from both sides, Paul Scholes sided with Destiny Udogie over Luke Shaw amongst other potentially controversial picks.
Paul Scholes proven right as Destiny Udogie shows he’s better than Luke Shaw
In the Europa League final, Udogie outplayed Shaw and by some distance as well.
Luke Shaw, who was deployed as a left-sided centre-back was culpable for Johnson’s strike as he left him completely unmarked inside the box and let him tap the ball into the back of the net.
The £27 million (BBC Sport) man should have taken more responsibility, considering he was playing alongside a young defender like Leny Yoro but instead, the Englishman was caught ball-watching.
Tottenham smartly targeted Shaw throughout the contest by pumping the ball long, making life difficult for him as he struggled to marshal the wide areas.
The former Southampton left-back was not much better in possession as well, struggling to progress the ball and provide a sense of calmness.
On the other hand, Destiny Udogie was heroic — as he rose to the challenge of going toe-to-toe against a wideman like Amad Diallo and despite a few tetchy moments up against the Ivorian, he dominated the battle.
Udogie made several key challenges inside and close to the box while in possession, the way he drove up the pitch to relieve the pressure off Tottenham was a sight to behold.
Even in tight areas, the Italian international was incredibly calm and showed off his technical proficiency, proving Paul Scholes right about being the superior player to Shaw.
Shaw and Udogie’s stats compared after Tottenham vs Man United in Europa League final
Udogie is highly rated by Tottenham and his latest exploits showed why that is the case.
The 22-year-old might not have had his best season but Manchester City’s interest in signing Udogie typifies that within the game, he is considered as a top player in the making.
As for Shaw, his stock continues to plummet and Paul Scholes has well and truly been vindicated when comparing the Manchester United defender’s stats from the Europa League final against Tottenham to Udogie’s.
| STATS IN THE EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL | DESTINY UDOGIE | LUKE SHAW |
| DUELS WON | 9/15 | 1/4 |
| TACKLES | 5 | 1 |
| INTERCEPTIONS | 0 | 0 |
| CLEARANCES | 4 | 4 |
Udogie won far more duels while making more tackles and interceptions in what was an all-action display from him.
Shaw, on the opposite spectrum was rather passive on the most important night of Manchester United’s season.
