Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will contest the 2024/25 edition of the UEFA Europa League final later this month, having both come through their respective semi-final ties.
An all-English final took place as recently as 2019 when Arsenal and Chelsea clashed in Baku, Azerbaijan, a contest comfortably won by the latter. Tottenham also overcame Wolverhampton Wanderers in the inaugural UEFA Cup final back in 1972.
Spurs have actually lifted the trophy twice, claiming it again in 1984, while they were beaten Feyenoord in 1974. For United, this is a third Europa League final visit in eight years, previously defeating Ajax in 2017 but losing a marathon penalty shootout to Villarreal in 2021.
Ruben Amorim’s United held a comfortable 3-0 aggregate lead over Athletic Club from the first leg in Bilbao last week and ultimately saw it through in the return at Old Trafford. They initially fell behind in Manchester, but the competition’s only unbeaten team drew level on the night through Mason Mount and then ran up the score-line late on through Casemiro, Rasmus Hojlund and Mount again.
Spurs were similarly 3-1 up against Bodo/Glimt, the Norwegian side who had made history just by reaching the semi-finals. After a goal-less first half in Bodo, population 42,000, Dominic Solanke and Pedro Porro took the tie firmly away from the underdog hosts.
Although glory alone is important – Spurs are hoping to finally a 17-year wait for a trophy – what’s also at stake in the Europa League final is hugely important from a financial perspective.
The winning team earns an automatic place in next season’s Champions League, which comes with vastly superior revenues. Given that both United and Spurs have endured poor domestic campaigns, it comes as an unexpected but welcome opportunity to be dining at Europe’s top table once more.
When is the 2025 UEFA Europa League final?
The Europa League final is scheduled for Wednesday 21 May, kicking off at 21:00 CEST (20:00 BST).
Where is the 2025 UEFA Europa League final being played?
This season’s Champions League final is being staged at San Mames in Bilbao, with Athletic Club failing in their efforts to reach the showpiece event at their own stadium.
Completed in 2013, it replaced the original San Mames that had been opened a century earlier, holing just over 50,000 people. The venue has previously hosted games at Euro 2020 and was the setting for last season’s Women’s Champions League final.
Bilbao has never hosted a UEFA Cup or Europa League final as a neutral stadium, only in 1977 when finals were two-legged and Athletic Club faced Juventus home and away. Spain as a country, hosted the Europa League final as recently as 2022 when Eintracht Frankfurt edged past Rangers at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in Sevilla.
How much do 2025 UEFA Europa League final tickets cost?
Tickets for the 2025 Europa League start at just €40, after UEFA created a ‘Fans First’ category exclusively for supporters of each competing club, of which there are 30,000 in total.
Another 11,000 tickets are open to general public and neutrals, which are more expensive. The cheapest category of those is still an affordable €65 (£56), but then it rises to €160 (£137) in category two and €240 (£206) in category one.
