Two struggling Premier League teams — 15th and 16th on the table — are now headed for the Europa League final. That alone might surprise many.
Tottenham Hotspur’s poor form in the Premier League brought heavy criticism for both coach Ange Postecoglou and his players throughout the season. But their performance in Europe has been a different story altogether. After powering their way into the Europa League final, Postecoglou fired back at the critics.
“If reaching a final is so easy, why can’t the top three in the Premier League do it?”
The Spurs boss made that pointed remark on Thursday night after a 2–0 away win against Bodø/Glimt in the second leg of the semifinal. Dominic Solanke opened the scoring in the 63rd minute, and just six minutes later, Pedro Porro doubled the lead.
Having already won the first leg 3–1, Tottenham secured their place in the final with an aggregate score of 5–1.
They will now face Manchester United in an all-English final on May 21 in Bilbao.
Despite enduring a rough Premier League season with a string of losses and draws pushing them down to 16th place, Spurs are now chasing their first major European title since 2008.
It’s true that the team has been plagued by injuries. Key players like James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall have been sidelined for long periods, and they are also without their star forward Son Heung-min.
Still, reaching the final in the midst of all this has brought immense joy to both players and coaching staff — perhaps most of all for Postecoglou, who has had to weather relentless criticism. And now, he’s not missing the chance to respond.
“It will probably upset a lot of people that we’ve reached the final, won’t it? The debate will continue. And in the end, even if we win, apparently no one in our team will be worthy of the trophy. So they’ll just take a team photo — because we’re not worthy of it.”
“What I want to say is — who cares that we’re struggling in the league? It’s a completely different matter. League form has nothing to do with this. Who’s struggling and who’s not — it doesn’t matter to me. I believe both we and Manchester United deserve to be in the final.”
Like Spurs, Manchester United have also had a disappointing Premier League campaign.
After 35 rounds, Huber Amorim’s United are 15th with 39 points from 10 wins and 9 draws — just one point ahead of Tottenham.
