Europa League final: It's all or nothing for Man United and Tottenham

It's all or nothing when Manchester United and Tottenham meet in the Europa League final on Wednesday.

For the winner of the all-English showdown in Bilbao there is the mother of all get-out-of-jail-free cards with entry to the Champions League.

For the loser, the abyss of no European soccer next year, the indignity of so many unwanted records broken, and uncertainty hanging over the futures of those who have presided over such a spectacular fall.

That's what's on the line at Estadio de San Mamés when two English soccer giants get one last shot at salvaging the season.

Long gone are the days when United dominated the Premier League and challenged the summit of European soccer on a regular basis. But even after 12 years without winning the English title, this season has represented a new low.

United is 16th out of 20 in the standings after a club-record 18 defeats in a single campaign since the Premier League began in 1992. It is also certain to register its worst-ever points total in the era, as well as its lowest finish.

“We have bigger things to deal with to get this club back on top. Tomorrow can help, and give us the strength to do what we have to do,” Man United coach Ruben Amorim said Tuesday. "People will look at our team in a different way if you win a European title. It will help us for the future. But it doesn’t change the season.”

Tottenham is one place below United having lost 21 times in the league — also a club record in the modern era.

“It’s hard to contextualize the last couple of years," Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou said Tuesday. "I’ve tried to stick to the process of getting the club to where they can compete for trophies while rejuvenating the squad. It has been a fair challenge, but tomorrow there is the opportunity to achieve the main objective.”

Spurs — Champions League runner-up in 2019 — are aiming for a first trophy since the 2008 English League Cup.

It is rare that such a major final has so much riding on it beyond the trophy itself.

Neither team has looked capable of challenging for a top five position in the Premier League, which would secure Champions League qualification. But in a season when both teams occupy the last safe spots before relegation, they have a mind-boggling lifeline to the Champions League via the Europa League.

The Champions League offers the prestige of playing beside teams like Real Madrid and Barcelona, draws prospective signings, and comes with huge financial rewards.

Real Madrid earned almost $154 million from winning the competition for a record-extending 15th time last season. Total prize money has increased from $2 billion last season to $2.7 billion in this expanded season.

“It’s a great prize, and we know the significance of playing in the Champions League," Postecoglou said. "But the club has been in the Champions League before; we haven’t won a trophy in a very long time.”

United, in particular, could do with some of that money at a time of job losses and cuts under new co-owner Jim Ratcliffe, while Amorim hopes to rebuild his squad in the offseason.

While a return to the Champions League is also enticing for Tottenham, the chance to end its trophy barren run may be even more appealing.

Not even top class managers like Mauricio Pochettino, Jose Mourinho or Antonio Conte ended Spurs' wait for major silverware.

It could be destiny that Postecoglou is the man to end the drought, having boldly predicted early in the season that he always wins a trophy in his second year.

That was true at previous clubs Brisbane Roar, Yokohama F Marinos and Celtic — but it would be remarkable if he continued that run on the back of such a desperate campaign.

“It’s not for the want of world-class players. This club has had world-class players,” Postecoglou says. “It’s not for the want of world-class managers. They’ve had world-class managers. It’s something else that’s going to change this club.”

By contrast, United has continued to win trophies despite its failure to win the Premier League since former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

This could be the third straight year United ends the season with silverware after winning the 2023 League Cup and the 2024 FA Cup.

Amorim replaced Erik ten Hag as United coach in November but has not been able to turn its form around.

He's lost 14 of his 26 league games, including six of the last eight.

While there has been no suggestion his job is under immediate threat, he has raised doubts about his position, admitting he is embarrassed by his team's form.

Postecoglou is two years into the job at Spurs and became the club's fourth permanent manager in four years when joining from Celtic in 2023.

A major trophy would put a different complexion on a season in which Spurs have dramatically fallen since he led them to a fifth-place finish in his first year.

He and Amorim have spoken of the similarities about their positions.

“I guess from an emotional standpoint and the noise around the club," Postecoglou says, "we’re kind of dealing with similar things of something that is so fantastic in terms of a European run, and also something that’s obviously the opposite of that, the other extreme in the league."

AP Sports Writer Tales Azzoni contributed to this report from Bilbao.

James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tottenham's Son Heung-min, right, Tottenham's Richarlison train during a training session ahead of the Europa League final soccer match against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's Mathys Tel controls the ball during a training session ahead of the Europa League final soccer match against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham's head coach Ange Postecoglou speaks with his players during a training session ahead of the Europa League final soccer match against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Manchester United players visit the pitch ahead of the Europa League final soccer match against Tottenham Hotspur at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham players train during a training session ahead of the Europa League final soccer match against Manchester United at the San Mames Stadium in Bilbao, Spain, Tuesday, May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Tottenham coach Ange Postecoglou salutes fans after the Europa League semifinal soccer match between Bodø/Glimt and Tottenham Hotspur at Aspmyra Stadium, Bodo, Norway, Thursday May 8, 2025. (Mats Torbergsen/NTB via AP)

Manchester United's head coach Ruben Amorim reacts during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester United and West Ham at Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

The NFL set a record for fewest punts per game in 2025, and wild-card weekend was filled with fourth-down fun and folly as punters were mostly spectators, especially Chicago's Tory Taylor, who never stepped off the sideline in the Bears' come-from-behind win over the Green Bay Packers.

In all, teams converted 15 of 29 fourth down attempts on wild-card weekend, when there were only 41 punts, nine of them Monday night in the Houston Texans' 30-6 rout of Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Bears first-year coach Ben Johnson was particularly aggressive, going for it a half dozen times in fourth down Saturday night, including two backfires in the first half that led to a pair of Green Bay touchdowns and put the Bears in a 21-3 halftime hole.

Caleb Williams was intercepted on fourth-and-6 from the Packers 40-yard line, leading to Jordan Love's 18-yard touchdown throw, and Williams threw incomplete on fourth-and-5 from his own 32. That one led to Love's TD throw on fourth-and-goal from the Bears 2 that gave Green Bay an 18-point halftime cushion.

The Packers couldn't capitalize on another turnover on downs by Chicago just before halftime because Brandon McManus missed a 55-yard field goal on the final play after Williams threw incomplete deep on fourth-and-4 from the Green Bay 37.

When Prime Video's sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung asked the Bears' coach about his aggressive approach and going for it on fourth down multiple times on his own side of the field, Johnson replied, “Yeah, we want to maximize our possessions and we want to go for fourth-down plays.”

Her follow-up was about how to slow down Green Bay's efficient offense.

“That's a big reason why we're being aggressive on offense, so that we can extend our drives and score points ourselves,” Johnson insisted. “It's a really good offense we're going against.”

Although the Bears would convert just twice on their six fourth downs — Green Bay was 3 for 3 on fourth down — that strategy paid off in the end. Williams threw a 27-yard pass to Rome Odunze to the Packers' 30-yard line, which led to the TD that pulled Chicago to 27-24 with 4:21 remaining.

Johnson said the game plan featured an aggressive fourth-down mentality, and "I think where it gets misconstrued is, there’s a lack of confidence in your defense when you do that. I think the opposite, I think it’s because I have confidence in our defense and their ability to stop teams in the red zone."

“I’m never going to apologize for being aggressive or doing things that might be a little unorthodox,” Johnson added, "if it’s what we deem is best for us to win a ballgame.”

Johnson was the Lions' offensive coordinator when Detroit blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost the NFC championship to San Francisco 34-31 after the 2023 season. In that game, Lions coach Dan Campbell went for it on fourth down twice in field-goal range but came up short, later saying he'd do it again if he could.

Those failures didn't curtail the Lions' aggressive fourth-down philosophy, one that Johnson took to Chicago when he was hired by the Bears a year ago.

He had plenty of company over the weekend as a trend from the regular season continued. There were just 3.55 punts per game per team this season and that figure fell in the first round of the playoffs with teams averaging just 3.41 punts per game.

The Panthers and Rams got the fun going Saturday when early fourth-down failures led to touchdowns by each team.

Trevor Lawrence thought he had the first down when the Jaguars went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Buffalo 9 only to see the review reveal his shin had hit the ground shy of the first-down marker, a fourth-down faux pas that proved pivotal in Jacksonville's 27-24 loss to the Bills.

The Bills twice went for it on fourth-and-1 deep in Jaguars territory. Josh Allen had a 4-yard keeper on the first one and was carried 9 yards on an astonishing tush push to the 1 that also led to a Buffalo touchdown.

The 49ers didn't attempt a single fourth-down conversion in their 23-19 win at Philadelphia, where the Eagles were 3-for-5 on fourth down.

The Patriots converted their only fourth-down try, on fourth-and-4 from the Chargers' 30, which led to a field goal. When the Chargers took a delay after failing to induce an offsides call and then punted from midfield, NBC analyst Cris Collinsworth said, “I think Jim Harbaugh's been watching the games this weekend.”

And when Steelers coach Mike Tomlin chose to take the three points with a 32-yard field goal try rather that chancing it fourth-and-3 from the Houston 14 Monday night, ESPN analyst Troy Aikman commented: “We're in a time as we all know when a lot of offenses would be going for it ... But points are going to be (at) a premium. You've got two defenses that are capable of dominating their opponent. Get 'em when you can.”

Well, points certainly were at a premium for Pittsburgh, which hung in there most of the night before the Texans' 23-0 fourth-quarter blitz in what might have been Rodgers' farewell game.

If so, Rodgers' final pass was a pick-6 by safety Calen Bullock, whose 50-yard interception return for a touchdown came on ... you guessed it, fourth down.

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Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson reacts during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff football game against the Green Bay Packers Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Huh)