‘Dumb and Dumber’ clash, Europa League Finals recap

the Europa League 2025 season has come to a close, and while the articles and stories have already poured in, the final was headlined by the clash between two of the Premier League’s bottom two teams, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The two teams that met in the final were both just above the relegation zone in the league table, earning it the nickname “The Battle of Annihilation”.

tottenham and Man United’s journey from quarterfinals to final

• quarterfinals: athletic Bilbao, Rangers, Frankfurt, Lazio, Lyon, and Lyon were among the European powerhouses in the quarterfinals. tottenham defeated Frankfurt and Manchester United beat Lyon in dramatic fashion to advance to the quarterfinals.
• quarterfinals: United defeated Bilbao and Tottenham defeated Boje/Glimt to punch their tickets to the final.
• final: both teams, 16th-ranked United and 17th-ranked Tottenham, had struggled in the league this season, but made it all the way to the final in the Europa League.

the final, a dominant performance by United… and a win for Tottenham!

throughout the match, United led in every metric, including possession (73:27), shots on goal (6:1), and corner kicks, but soccer is a sport that is all about goals. tottenham’s only shot on goal was the game-winner, which Johnson slotted home after being knocked down in a sloppy situation. united missed a number of crucial chances and had to swallow their disappointment when they were denied by Tottenham goalkeeper Vicario in second-half stoppage time.

son Heung-min came on as a late substitute due to injury and focused on defense to protect his team’s lead. In the end, Tottenham took the result over the substance, lifting their first European trophy in 41 years.

tottenham wins the Europa League and advances to the Champions League

with this win, Tottenham secured a Champions League spot for next season, despite finishing 17th in the league. despite losing in the last round, they made up for it by winning the Europa League. son Heung-min finally got his first trophy, too, after years of irrelevance.

in a season where the strategy of abandoning the league and going all-in on the Europa League worked, the fact that the final opponent was Man United made it all the more worthwhile. In a matchup of two teams that had terrible seasons, it was a delightful twist that Tottenham remained the ‘lesser of two evils’.

one-line summary

tottenham won the Europa League, Son Heung-min’s first trophy, and qualified for the Champions League to complete a dramatic season.