Archive May 8, 2025

Manchester United and Tottenham fans will be plotting routes to Bilbao after their clubs reached the Europa League final.

There are 49,600 tickets available at the San Mames stadium in the northern Spanish city on Wednesday, 21 May.

Finalists will receive 15,000 tickets each to sell to their supporters. These tickets – as part of Uefa’s ‘fans first’ scheme – are the most affordable, starting at 40 euros (£34).

Tickets for the general public are then split into three categories, with prices ranging from 65-240 euros (£55-£204).

As of the afternoon of Friday, 9 May, there were still spaces on three Easy Jet flights from Manchester to Bilbao on 21 May, ranging from £323 to £770 for a one-way trip.

There are three flights from Bilbao to Manchester on 22 May, costing between £634 and £940. The cheapest return, with just one night in the city, is a total of £933.98.

There is just one flight if you wanted to fly out the day before the game, the cost will be £917. There are no direct flights from Manchester to Bilbao on Monday, 19 May.

There is the potential for a coach journey, the cheapest return is £206. Starting from Shudehill Interchange on the afternoon of Monday, 19 May, with changes at London Victoria, Paris and Bordeaux, the journey would be almost 37 hours. The cheapest return journey takes roughly 38 hours and 25 minutes.

Return flights from London, travelling out on matchday, could be slightly pricier for Tottenham fans.

At the time of writing, travelling from Stansted to Bilbao on the Wednesday morning then returning to Stansted on the Thursday would cost £1,285.

Heading out a day earlier, you could find a cheaper return deal at £795, from London Gatwick. The flight would arrive on Tuesday afternoon.

For a coach journey, a return ticket would cost £212.

The journey – which would take around 24 hours – would begin early morning on Monday from London Victoria, with a change in Paris. The cheapest return journey leaving on Thursday takes 32 hours, arriving back in London early Saturday morning.

All the coaches that would arrive in Bilbao on Wednesday, 21 May are already fully booked.

Travel expert Simon Calder is a frequent visitor to Bilbao – and typically pays £150-£200 for a return journey from London.

He told BBC Sport: “There are many other ways to reach Bilbao. In particular, Biarritz in France is well placed for fans who want to see something of the Basque region en route to Bilbao.

“There is a routing via Basel in Switzerland. From Biarritz airport you can walk to the city’s rail station in about 20 minutes, and board a train to the border town of Hendaye. From here a narrow-gauge railway runs to San Sebastian, from where there is another narrow-gauge train.

“Supporters who want to travel by train should be able to cover the ground for about £200 one way.

“From London St Pancras International on 20 May, the cheapest morning Eurostar train to Paris Nord is £110. After crossing the city to Paris Montparnasse, the lunchtime train to the Hendaye costs £75. From here, it’s those little trains once again.

The recommended route to San Mames is via public transport or walking.

There are several different transport methods to get to the stadium, including underground, train, tram or bus.

San Mames’ official website recommends walking, giving fans a ‘unique experience’ and taking in the sights.

San Mames is close to to the city centre. To get to the stadium, it is only a 20-minute walk or 9-18 minutes on public transport.

Hotel prices in the city centre are between £2,601 and £4,201.

There are cheaper alternatives about a 35-minute drive away in towns such as Bermeo and Mundaka. Accommodation in the area of Bakio have sold out.

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Manchester United and Tottenham will meet in an all-English Europa League final on 21 May.

Ruben Amorim’s United saw off Spanish side Athletic Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate in their semi-final to progress, while Spurs got the better of Norwegians Bodo/Glimt 5-1 on aggregate.

United are looking to win the Europa League for the second time in eight years, while Tottenham are bidding to end a 41-year wait for European success.

It is the sixth all-English final in any major European competition – with half of them involving Spurs.

Tottenham are looking to win a first trophy of any kind in 17 years and they will fancy themselves as favourites for the game in Bilbao, having beaten United three times already this season.

Spurs won 3-0 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at home in the Premier League and also triumphed 4-3 in the League Cup.

“If you think in the odds it’s hard for the club to lose four times in a row,” United boss Ruben Amorim said. “We can think that way.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Glenn Hoddle agreed that it would be difficult for Spurs to win again.

“To beat a team four times also from the Premier League in one season is really tough,” Hoddle said on TNT Sports.

He added: “It will be a titanic battle. Spurs have had the upper hand at the moment but United will be looking for revenge.”

United last won the Europa League in 2016-17, when Jose Mourinho was manager. They lost the Europa League final 11-10 on penalties to Villarreal in 2021 when David de Gea missed his spot kick for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side.

Despite United’s poor season domestically, ex-Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes is confident his former side will rise to the occasion in the final.

He said: “For some reason, the history of this club is almost like Real Madrid at times – when they aren’t playing that well they can still go on and win European cups.

Manchester United and Tottenham have struggled domestically this season as they sit 15th and 16th respectively in the Premier League.

However, a European trophy will ensure the campaign will ultimately be viewed as a successful one.

“It’s going to upset a lot of people isn’t it?” said Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.

“Neither us will get a trophy if we win, we’re just going to take a team picture.

“Who cares if we’re struggling in the league?

“This club and others have finished first, second and third in the Premier League and haven’t made finals. I couldn’t care less who is struggling and who’s not.

Spurs’ impressive record over United extends further back than just this season.

They have won four of the past six meetings in all competitions, with United last beating them 2-0 in the Premier League in October 2022.

But data analysts Opta have made United slight favourites to triumph in the final.

Their supercomputer gives the Red Devils a 50.7% chance of lifting the Europa League trophy, with Tottenham at 49.3%.

“I think the final is poised to be absolutely brilliant,” former Manchester City midfielder Izzy Christiansen said on TNT Sports.

The winners of the Europa League go into the following season’s Champions League, regardless of where they finish domestically.

So a United v Spurs final guarantees one of them a return to the mega-riches of European football’s top table.

That rule is handy for United and Spurs, who are both more than 20 points behind fifth place.

Without winning the Europa League, neither of them will be in any European competition next season.

It would not have any knock-on effect on any other English teams – with the top five guaranteed a Champions League spot through the league.

United and Tottenham’s unusually poor domestic seasons mean that if both teams reach the Europa League final next week and stay in their current Premier League positions, the winner would be the lowest-ranked domestic side to win the competition in the past 15 years.

Opta data shows that since the Europa League was rebranded in 2009-10, no team finishing lower than 12th in their domestic league has competed in the final or won it.

Sevilla (12th) won the tournament in 2023, while Fulham (12th) lost the final in 2010.

And this is also the first season with new league phase formats in Europe – previously teams who finished third in their Champions League groups would drop into the Europa League, in theory making the competition harder to win.

In previous years, teams who were eliminated from the first phase of the Champions League dropped into the Europa League.

But that changed from this season after Uefa club competitions underwent their biggest changes for more than a decade.

That likely boosted United and Tottenham’s chances of reaching the final because in the past 15 seasons 10 finalists were sides who dropped from the Champions League.

The first Uefa Cup in 1971-72 was between Tottenham and Wolves in a two-legged final.

Spurs won the first leg 2-1 at Molineux, with Martin Chivers scoring twice, and drew 1-1 at White Hart Lane two weeks later.

It would take 36 years for the next all-English final, which was in the 2007-08 Champions League as Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard traded goals before a shootout that is best remembered for John Terry’s miss after slipping.

There were two all-English finals in 2018-19.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League in Madrid, with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.

And Chelsea saw off Arsenal 4-1 in Baku in the Europa League, with Eden Hazard netting twice in his final game for the club.

Manchester United and Tottenham will meet in an all-English Europa League final on 21 May.

Ruben Amorim’s United saw off Spanish side Athletic Bilbao 7-1 on aggregate in their semi-final to progress, while Spurs got the better of Norwegians Bodo/Glimt 5-1 on aggregate.

United are looking to win the Europa League for the second time in eight years, while Tottenham are bidding to end a 41-year wait for European success.

It is the sixth all-English final in any major European competition – with half of them involving Spurs.

Tottenham are looking to win a first trophy of any kind in 17 years and they will fancy themselves as favourites for the game in Bilbao, having beaten United three times already this season.

Spurs won 3-0 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at home in the Premier League and also triumphed 4-3 in the League Cup.

“If you think in the odds it’s hard for the club to lose four times in a row,” United boss Ruben Amorim said. “We can think that way.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Glenn Hoddle agreed that it would be difficult for Spurs to win again.

“To beat a team four times also from the Premier League in one season is really tough,” Hoddle said on TNT Sports.

He added: “It will be a titanic battle. Spurs have had the upper hand at the moment but United will be looking for revenge.”

United last won the Europa League in 2016-17, when Jose Mourinho was manager.

Despite the club’s poor season domestically, ex-Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes is confident his former side will rise to the occasion in the final.

He said: “For some reason, the history of this club is almost like Real Madrid at times – when they aren’t playing that well they can still go on and win European cups.

Manchester United and Tottenham have struggled domestically this season as they sit 15th and 16th respectively in the Premier League.

However, a European trophy will ensure the campaign will ultimately be viewed as a successful one.

“It’s going to upset a lot of people isn’t it?” said Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou.

“Neither us will get a trophy if we win, we’re just going to take a team picture.

“Who cares if we’re struggling in the league?

“This club and others have finished first, second and third in the Premier League and haven’t made finals. I couldn’t care less who is struggling and who’s not.

Spurs’ impressive record over United extends further back than just this season.

They have won four of the past six meetings in all competitions, with United last beating them 2-0 in the Premier League in October 2022.

But data analysts Opta have made United slight favourites to triumph in the final.

Their supercomputer gives the Red Devils a 50.7% chance of lifting the Europa League trophy, with Tottenham at 49.3%.

“I think the final is poised to be absolutely brilliant,” former Manchester City midfielder Izzy Christiansen said on TNT Sports.

The winners of the Europa League go into the following season’s Champions League, regardless of where they finish domestically.

So a United v Spurs final guarantees one of them a return to the mega-riches of European football’s top table.

That rule is handy for United and Spurs, who are both more than 20 points behind fifth place.

Without winning the Europa League, neither of them will be in any European competition next season.

It would not have any knock-on effect on any other English teams – with the top five guaranteed a Champions League spot through the league.

United and Tottenham’s unusually poor domestic seasons mean that if both teams reach the Europa League final next week and stay in their current Premier League positions, the winner would be the lowest-ranked domestic side to win the competition in the past 15 years.

Opta data shows that since the Europa League was rebranded in 2009-10, no team finishing lower than 12th in their domestic league has competed in the final or won it.

Sevilla (12th) won the tournament in 2023, while Fulham (12th) lost the final in 2010.

And this is also the first season with new league phase formats in Europe – previously teams who finished third in their Champions League groups would drop into the Europa League, in theory making the competition harder to win.

In previous years, teams who were eliminated from the first phase of the Champions League dropped into the Europa League.

But that changed from this season after Uefa club competitions underwent their biggest changes for more than a decade.

That likely boosted United and Tottenham’s chances of reaching the final because in the past 15 seasons 10 finalists were sides who dropped from the Champions League.

The first Uefa Cup in 1971-72 was between Tottenham and Wolves in a two-legged final.

Spurs won the first leg 2-1 at Molineux, with Martin Chivers scoring twice, and drew 1-1 at White Hart Lane two weeks later.

It would take 36 years for the next all-English final, which was in the 2007-08 Champions League as Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in Moscow.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Frank Lampard traded goals before a shootout that is best remembered for John Terry’s miss after slipping.

There were two all-English finals in 2018-19.

Liverpool beat Tottenham 2-0 in the Champions League in Madrid, with goals from Mohamed Salah and Divock Origi.

And Chelsea saw off Arsenal 4-1 in Baku in the Europa League, with Eden Hazard netting twice in his final game for the club.