Key events
Some fans have already taken their seats inside San Mamés which, given there’s still plenty of time to take in the beauty of Bilbao, seems excessive, but each to their own. There are flags as far as the eye can see. Nothing like a bit of telegenic pre-match choreography to get the vibes going.
With a little under two and a half hours to go until kick-off, it looks like the pubs of Bilbao are jumping. Topa!
From one Will to another: thanks Will. Let’s kick off with some unrelated but notable news: Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, the former Arsenal youngster turned globetrotting journeyman, has pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of the drug through Stansted airport from Thailand.
Thank you very much for joining me for this day. Let’s all hope for a cracking final. Will Magee will see you through the latter stages of this blog. Eskerrik asko and agur.
Plenty of journalists are already in the ground based on what I am seeing on Instagram stories. The fans are wandering across town as they will be eager to avoid risking it.
Phil Foden has been discussing this season and why he’s struggled. “It’s been a frustrating season. I’ve had a lot of things going on off the pitch mentally. Sometimes there’s things in life bigger than football. This season I’ve struggled a little bit. Hopefully come next year I can get my head mentally right, get back where I left the season before because I know what I’m capable of doing and the quality I have.”
THREE HOURS TO GO UNTIL KICK-OFF!
No 9 adjacent.
Jacob Steinberg, Nick Ames and little old me have a story about Liam Delap.
Dominic Solanke v Harry Maguire feels like a big battle tonight. Solanke is the only decent No 9 on show in Bilbao and if he can get the better of his compatriot, it would put Spurs in the driving seat.
“Looking at the photos I feel sorry for the glorious city of Bilbao having not one but two sets of English supporters foisted on it,” writes Richard Hirst. “I hope the Guggenheim is well wrapped up.
“As to the match, I’m in the ABU team. But can we go straight to penalties to spare us 120 minutes of footballing travesty (unless of course there are plenty of the Things Nobody Likes to See).”
“Unless the local resident in the photo is a Spurs fan, was brought in by the photographer or is a bit of a disruptive supporter himself, the impression is that Bilbao doesn’t want the fans,” suggests Andrew Benton. “So, why did they offer to host the final? They’ve brought it on themselves, and its only for a day. Cheer up, Bilbao! First the Guggenheim, and now Man U vs Spurs. But maybe I’m wrong, what’s the mood on the streets?”
I can’t imagine that one man represents an entire city. It is funny Plaza Nueva is an extremely quiet place normally, I used to wander down to the weekend market there on a Sunday, which is about as lively as it usually gets. On the other hand, I did watch Athletic play Barcelona in the Copa del Rey final there and it was bedlam.
Jude Bellingham will undergo surgery on a shoulder injury after Real Madrid’s Club World Cup campaign, according to reports.
The England international has been troubled by the problem for some time and reports in Spain suggest he will miss the first six weeks of next season. Bellingham suffered the injury when he fell awkwardly during a match on 23 November and has been playing through pain and with it strapped since.
The Spanish club take part in this summer’s revamped Club World Cup, which is being held in the United States between 15 June and 13 July. It is reported that the 21-year-old will have surgery when that tournament ends and faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. That would be expected to rule him out of the start of next season’s LaLiga campaign as well as England’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Serbia in September. PA Media
John Brennan is back! “I’d like to respond to the feedback I got about possibly thinking it might be better for United to lose tonight. I think that if they qualify for Champions League next season there is a high possibility they will not qualify the following season as they don’t have the strength in depth to cope with so many games. I think that if United get 2 good attackers in and maybe another central midfielder, there is a decent starting XI with a couple of bench options which could lead to a good season and get them in a position to build from there.
“As for not minding if Spurs win, I don’t. If it was City or Liverpool I wouldn’t want them to win but Spurs, I couldn’t begrudge them a trophy. I’m sure Will, you felt similar when Palace won the Saturday, it probably bothered you a whole lot less than when United won the cup last year?”
Even I know this is not how to conduct your transfer business.
It’s an all-English final tonight. Test yourself on those of yesteryear.
Emmanuel-Thomas pleads guilty to cannabis importation
Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to a cannabis importation charge over an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of the drug through Stansted Airport from Thailand.
The 34-year-old striker was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest last year. The former Arsenal academy product changed his plea to guilty at a hearing on May 7 and this can now be reported after reporting restrictions were lifted on Wednesday.
Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1 2024 and September 2 2024.
He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year.
The footballer, whose former clubs include Ipswich, Bristol City, QPR, Livingston, Aberdeen and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of his sentencing on a date to be fixed.
Emmanuel-Thomas, of Cardwell Road in Gourock, Inverclyde, Scotland, was arrested in the town by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024. His arrest came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through Stansted on 2 September.
Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok, Thailand. Co-defendants Rosie Rowland and Yasmin Piotrowska, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case.
Prosecutor David Josse KC said that “at all material times they maintained both before the events that led to the importation and after the events they said they thought they were importing gold not cannabis”.
Judge Christopher Morgan directed that not guilty verdicts be recorded in the case of Rowland and Piotrowska and they walked free from the dock.
Rowland, 29, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, Essex, and 33-year-old Piotrowska, of Purves Road, Kensal Rise, north-west London, wept after leaving the dock.
Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Wednesday’s hearing by video-link from Chelmsford Prison. He was asked if he would like to appear at his sentencing in person or by video-link and he asked that it be in person, with the date for this hearing to be set administratively. PA Media
George Hayes responds to John Brennan: “Understand the concern that playing in the CL next season would be way above United’s level, and reduce the time Amorim has to bed in his ideas. But it’s plainly absurd for John Brennan to want his own team not to win a major European trophy, let alone also “not minding” if Spurs win.
“If you can’t get excited about winning a trophy and qualifying for the CL, based on an unlikely FA cup win last year and some incredible games this season (while your club has been a raging bin fire), then really what is the point?”
As does Topper: “Regarding John’s comment at 15:32. How can any “fan” want their team to lose. I’d rather deal with tomorrow, tomorrow.
“Tonight is so huge, a loss would be unbearable, and could make the next few years dismal(ler)
“A win and, I don’t care how we got there, Champions League will bring in some much needed money. Plus imagine if Chelsea or City didn’t qualify.”
Cheers Baz. I am here and Sir Alex Ferguson is in Bilbao, ready for the big match. He will love a glass of txakoli.
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Will Unwin is back to take you through until … whenever. Enjoy the final tonight, if you can.
This just in: West Ham and Nottingham Forest have been charged by the Football Association after their melee in Sunday’s Premier League game between the sides. Defender Murillo and Edson Alvarez clashed in the 13th minute of time added on of Forest’s 2-1 win at the London Stadium. That sparked a mass confrontation which ended with Forest pair Murillo and Felipe Morata and Hammers duo Alvarez and Carlos Soler going into the book.
“West Ham and Nottingham Forest have been charged in relation to the mass confrontation at their Premier League game on Sunday, May 18,” read an FA statement.
“It’s alleged that both clubs failed to ensure their players didn’t behave in an improper and/or provocative way around the 103rd minute. West Ham and Nottingham Forest have to provide their responses by Friday, May 23.” Today’s disciplinary charge is the latest in a long raft for Forest since their return to the Premier League in 2022.
An email: “As a Man United fan there is part of me that wants them to lose tonight,” writes John Brennan. “From a United perspective I think they really could do without European football next year to give Amorim a bit of space to bed in his ideas. I can see a scenario that if they qualify for the Champions League, they won’t have the depth to compete in that, their league form will suffer and by November, Amorim is given the boot with United down in 15th place or worse. It might go wrong even without European football but without, I think there is a better opportunity to right the ship.
“Also, I wouldn’t mind Spurs winning a trophy. It looks like Ange is going to get sack either way and it would be quite entertaining to watch him give it both barrels in post match press conference.”
You make some good points, John. However, as unromantic as it sounds, because of the Champions League riches that will pour into the coffers of tonight’s winners “this is the most important match in Manchester United’s history”. Not my words, but those of the academic and esteemed football finance expert Kieran Maguire.
An email: “Spurs v Manchester United,” writes Billy Ditchburn. “Not so much two bald men fighting over a comb as two guillotined aristos haggling over a cravat.”
268: That’s the number of flights Bilbao Airport was due to welcome today. To be honest, I have no idea how that compares to a normal day but it seems a lot. Of course lots of fans have eschewed the airborne travel option and have travelled by car, coach, train, boat or a combination of some or all of the above.
I think if I had the time to spare, I’d like to have gone on the ferry from Portsmouth, a 33-hour voyage that set off on Sunday evening, with the boat due to dock in Bilbao around 9am yesterday morning. It sets off on its return voyage tomorrow morning.
Five hours to go! While I am painfully aware of the irony of somebody who is helming a rolling blog building-up to tonight’s Europa League final complaining about there being too much build-up to tonight’s Europa League final, I was just on the phone to a Tottenham-supporting friend and colleague who said “I’m all previewed out and just want the [f-word]ing match to start so I can either enjoy it or hate every minute of it”. I totally get it – so here’s hoping that when proceedings finally get under way in Bilbao in five hours time, we get an entertaining game after all this pre-match nonsense and speculation.
No automatic qualification for host nations at Euro 2028
Paul MacInnes
There will be no automatic places for the home nations when they host the men’s European Championships in 2028, Uefa have confirmed. England, Scotland, Wales and the Republic of Ireland will be expected to take part in the qualifying process for the tournament, though there will be a safety net for two of them should they fail.
Uefa have previously only guaranteed participation to a maximum of two hosts. 2028 will be staged by four nations, however, after Northern Ireland’s Casement Park was withdrawn as a host stadium. Uefa’s solution to the problem of multiple hosts is to reserve places for up to two host countries who failed to qualify, with those places being determined by qualifying record.
This approach both avoids unfortunate disputes between host countries and likely will guarantee more than two will make the tournament. England have failed to qualify for the Euros just once in the past 40 years, while Scotland and Wales have qualified twice since the tournament was expanded to 24 teams in 2016. Should more than two teams fail to qualify, however, they could still earn a place through the playoffs or via the Uefa Nations League.
Uefa said: “Hosts England, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales will participate in qualifying, drawn into separate groups. The 12 group winners and 8 best runners-up (20 teams) will advance directly to the EURO 2028 final tournament. Two spots in the final tournament will be reserved for the two best ranked host nations who are not qualified as group winners or best runners-up after the completion of the qualifying group stage. The remaining spots will be assigned via play-offs between the remaining runners-up in the qualifying groups and the best ranked 2026-27 UEFA Nations League non-qualified group winners.”
Football Weekly podcast: We discussed that frosty exchange between Ange and the Standard’s Dan Kilpatrick on today’s podcast. I don’t know Dan and while I understand the point he was trying to make about Postecgolou’s legacy at Spurs possibly being decided by the outcome of this final, his use of the word “clown” was probably uncalled for. Ange was well within his rights to call him out and if you’re prepared to dish it out, you have to be able to take it back when it comes your way.
I would say Dan wasn’t helped by the subs who flagged up the word “clown” in the headline but hopefully he and Ange will be able to sort out any differences over a beer. Ideally with Tottenham’s manager helping to break the ice by turning up in a collapsible car while wearing massive shoes, baggy striped trousers, an Edwardian ruff and a big red nose.
Ange Postecoglou: “I’m not a clown and never will be”
A journalist from the London Evening Standard incurred the not inconsiderable wrath of Tottenham’s manager by writing “Postecoglou is therefore in a strange position, teetering between hero and clown” in a preview piece ahead of tonight’s final. When the same writer asked a similar question (without the c-word) at yesterday’s press conference, Ange gave him both barrels.
“Irresepctive of tomorrow, I am not a clownn and never will be,” said Ange. “You really disappointed me that you used that terminology to describe a person that for 26 years, without any favours from anyone, has worked his way into a position where he isleading the club out in a European final. For you to suggest that somehow not being successful means I’m a clown, I’m not sure how to answer that question.” Postecoglou promptly directed his laser stare away from the journalist in question and fielded a different question from one of his colleagues.
Welcome to Bilbao: It seems not all residents of Bilbao are happy to see their locale temporarily occupied by English football fans, as one Manchester United fan discovered after scaling some scaffolding to drape a banner over the Plaza Nueva. In case he doesn’t understand what this angry local poking him with what might be a snooker cue is saying, “Alde nire lurretik!” is the Basque for “Get off my land!”
Jamie Jackson: The Guardian’s bucket hat-wearing man on the Manchester beat is more self-contained media node than mere journalist and found a quiet corner of a bar in Bilbao so he could flap his gums with Talksport’s chief football correspondent, Alex Crook, on radio’s Hawksbee and Jacobs Show.
“I think United may well do a number on Spurs tonight unless something mad happens like Bruno Fernandes, who is United’s best player, sees red again. I’m not saying that’s going to happen, by the way. Manchester United have done so well in this competition, I just get the feeling that …. Diallo is back, Fernandes is playing well and having arguably his best season considering all the turmoil. If he’d been out injured for a while, would United have been in a relkegation fight? Possibly.”
Ed Aarons
Arsenal injury news: Mikel Arteta has confirmed that William Saliba suffered a hamstring injury against Newcastle on Sunday on the Frenchman’s 100th Premier League appearance and Jurrien Timber has had surgery on his ankle.
“William is going to be out for a few weeks, unfortunately,” said the Arsenal manager, who also expects Timber to be sidelined for a similar period. Saliba is about to enter the final two years of his contract at the Emirates and talks are understood to have begun about extending it amid reports of interest from Real Madrid.
An email: Picking up the thread pulled at by Will Unwin earlier, Jeremy Boyce writes. “Never mind the stadium, it’s all about Location! Location! Location!” he writes. “Bilbao itself is stunning. Your photos show in a small way how the whole place is steeply sloping, with big (bigger than anything in Britain) mountains coming right down to the sea. The city is built around a series of inlets, outcrops, gorges and rocks. I sincerely hope both sets of supporters take a bit of time away from the bars and fan zones and appreciate where it is that they actually are. It’s a beautiful place, but the motorway system around it is a bit mad, I had a near-death experience after getting myself confused trying to follow their jumbled signage.”
A beaming Son? In the event of a Lads, It’s Tottenham win this evening, no player is likely to be more pleased than Son Heung-min, whose smile will give the San Mamés Stadium floodlights a run for their money when it comes to lighting up the ground. The South Korean international is cautiously optimistic.
“In the league, definitely where we are now obviously is unacceptable, but I don’t want to think about now that things are not good,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “Reaching the final, you have to beat some good teams as well. You have to travel to away games, have to make difficult games, you have to be disciplined and you have to have belief in yourself, which we did and that’s why we are in the final.
“We can change the bad season in the league with a trophy and Spurs are just missing the trophy. Some seasons we have been outstanding, in the Champions League, finishing second, but still we were missing something. This year we can change that, so tomorrow, I hope we can change that.”
To parade or not to parade? While I have not heard of any plans for an open-top bus parade for Manchester United’s players and coaching staff if they win tonight, Gary Neville has declared there shouldn’t be one. “If Manchester United win, they’ll celebrate a trophy but there will be a cautious celebration tomorrow – not by the fans, though, because they’ll obviously go crazy,” he said on the Stick To Football podcast.
“Their interviews will be along the lines of them saying that they’re so happy and delighted for the fans, but it’s been a difficult season. That will be the tone of it. I don’t think there should be a parade through the city for them winning the Europa League.”
If Manchester United do win tonight and their players decide they quite fancy a parade, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, their penny-pinching co-owner, may well tell them to buy their own tickets for a 90-minute tour around the city on the Sightseeing Manchester Bus Tour. At £15 a head (£40 for a group of four and £8 for kids), it would constitute a bargain.
Hello everybody and thank you, Will. Like pretty much everyone else, I have no idea who will win tonight’s Europa League final but I’m certainly looking forward to finding out. With all my eggs secure in a big Sunderland-branded basket ahead of Saturday’s Championship playoff final at Wembley, I have no dog in this particular fight.
However, I would quite like to see Tottenham Hotspur prevail because I have always liked the cut of Ange’s jib, it would enrage the sizeable number of incredibly annoying Arsenal fans (many of whom I consider good friends) who drink in my local pub and I’m a football fan of a certain age who will never tire of seeing Manchester United lose, even if it has lost much of its novelty value in recent years. Anyway, those are my two cents, on the off-chance anyone is interested. Let’s crack on …
I am off for lunch and will be replaced by Barry Glendenning. See you soon.
Transfer news, courtesy of Jacob Steinberg.
Need some audio content? Here is the very latest Guardian Football Weekly discussing the match later and De Bruyne’s ta ra.