The 2024 Europa League final was a wonderfully high-quality affair. Xabi Alonso’s rampant Bayer Leverkusen had not lost a single game all season, yet were given a nut-and-bolt dismantling by an Atalanta side inspired by Ademola Lookman, who would go on to be crowned the best African player on the planet.
This year’s edition doesn’t have quite the same stardust.
Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are both enduring their worst domestic campaigns in the modern era and somehow seem to be accelerating towards those dire depths. The two traditional giants have each beaten four Premier League teams this calendar year—French champions Paris Saint-Germain have won five games against English opposition in the same time frame.
Nevertheless, one of these two listing behemoths will end the campaign as a European winner while booking a lucrative spot in next season’s Champions League. That dubious victor could be decided by a glut of battles all over the pitch.
