Manchester United will face off against Tottenham Hotspur at the San Mames stadium in Bilbao aiming to bring the Europa League trophy back to Manchester.
The two sides have played one another 204 times in history with United coming out on top on 96 occasions.
There have been 57 victories for Spurs and 51 draws.
It is only the second time the two sides have ever met in Europe, however. They faced each other in the 1963-64 Cup Winners’ Cup last 16, with United coming out on top 4-3 on aggregate.
Here are three storylines to whet the appetite before both sides’ biggest match of the season.
United looking to break goals record
While the Reds have struggled to find the net in the Premier League, they have been very free-flowing in Europe.
United have scored 35 goals in 14 matches in the Europa League this season. This included seven over two legs versus Olympique Lyonnais and the same amount against Athletic Club.
The BBC reports that “the only sides ever to score more in a single UEFA Cup/Europa League campaign are Borussia Mönchengladbach in 1972-73 (36), Porto in 2010-11 (37), and Chelsea in 2018-19 (36).”
In other words, were United to score three goals tonight, they would break the record for most strikes in a Europa League campaign in history.
United aim to break Ange Postecoglou curse
The Red Devils have faced off against the Australian manager five times since his arrival in England and have never won.
There have been four defeats and one 2-2 draw at Old Trafford in January 2024.
In fact, United’s recent record against Spurs has been quite sketchy. They have lost all three meetings this season in the league and Carabao Cup.
They are winless in their last six games with the last victory coming in October 2022 when Erik ten Hag got the better of Antonio Conte 2-0.
“The Red Devils have never gone seven without a win against Spurs before and have also never lost four successive matches against them.”
United fans will feel that their side is certainly due a win against the Londoners.
Ruben Amorim’s potential place in history
Things have hardly gone to plan for the Portuguese manager since he joined United in November last year from Sporting CP.
Nonetheless, a victory tonight would allow the 40 year old to join a select few managers in United folklore.
A win would see him become only the fourth manager in United’s history to win a European competition after Sir Matt Busby, Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.
He would also become only the third manager in the club’s storied history to win a trophy in his first season after Mourinho and Erik ten Hag.
In addition, “Amorim also could become only the third manager to win a major European title with an English club while aged 40 or younger, after Howard Kendall (1984-85 Cup Winners’ Cup with Everton, 38) and Gianluca Vialli (1997-98 Cup Winners’ Cup with Chelsea, 33).”
Featured image Justin Setterfield via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Alex Browne
Alex is a huge Manchester United fan, inspired by greats of his homeland such as George Best, Harry Gregg and Norman Whiteside. Proud owner of such niche shirts such as Kleberson, Eric Djemba-Djemba and Gary Neville. Grew up pretending to be Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the back garden, with little success.
