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Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester United 1-0 in the UEFA Europa League final to save their season, but in the process, condemned their opponents to a grueling year.
Winning this trophy and gaining access to next year’s Champions League will transform Spurs’ prospects in the transfer market and could even save Ange Postecoglou’s job. In contrast, the Red Devils now stare down the barrel at financial difficulties and tough decisions.
The market is already reacting to this result and what it means for both teams. Let’s apply a betting lens to what could come next.
Spurs’ unlikely new dawn
It’s been a heartwarming season when it comes to breaking trophy droughts.
Newcastle United, Crystal Palace and Bologna won major silverware for the first time in about 50 years or, in some cases, ever. Harry Kane also finally won his first team gong, and now Spurs, the butt of all jokes, have reset the record with a cup win.
As tragically bad as their Premier League campaign has been — they’re 17th in the table and may not even reach 40 points — their Europa League knockout performances have been eerily competent. The Lillywhites outfoxed Eintracht Frankfurt in the quarter-finals, were clearly superior to Bodø/Glimt in the semi-finals and played the right tactical game against United in the final.
These last few months have been rife with speculation that Postecoglou could be replaced at the end of the season. But there’s little to no precedent for sacking a manager off the back of a) this kind of emotional high, or b) an obvious, steady improvement in the biggest games.
Perhaps that’s why Betfair has taken down the “Next Tottenham Hotspur Manager” market. On Wednesday, you could take Palace’s Oliver Glasner at 3-to-1 or Brentford’s Thomas Frank at 6-to-1 to be the next man at the helm; now, you can’t even lay a wager.
Winning the Europa League grants Spurs a place in next season’s Champions League, opening up access to a calibre of summer signings they would have otherwise struggled to attract. Just about everyone wants to play in Europe’s premier competition, so the club’s lowly 17th-placed finish will immediately be disregarded by many.
Expect to see Spurs’ name pop up in all sorts of enhanced transfer discussions from here. For example, they’re priced at 9-to-1 to sign Jack Grealish from Manchester City.
Black clouds gathering over Manchester United
This loss is just as life-changing for Manchester United as it is for Spurs – only in a very different, much more sinister way.
The trophy would have meant significantly less to the Red Devils than it did to their long-suffering counterparts – after all, United won the FA Cup this time last year; they’re hardly struggling for silverware. But passage to the Champions League? Manchester United probably needed that more.
Much has been made of the club’s financial issues, with minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitting this year that “there’s no money left.” Failure to qualify for Europe again leaves staff at risk of another round of redundancies and severely impacts the quality of players they can attract or afford.
That hasn’t affected their pursuit of Wolves’ Matheus Cunha but may well scupper their chase for Ipswich Town’s Liam Delap, who has plenty of clubs to choose from and could justifiably demand European football.
Even worse, it places the future of current stars under the microscope. Bruno Fernandes, who endured an uncharacteristically poor final, has opened the door to leaving if it’s required: “I’ve always said I will be here until the club says to me that it’s time to go,” he admitted after the final. “If the club thinks it’s time to part ways because they want to do some cash in or whatever, it’s what it is, and football sometimes is like this.”
“We will see the future in a different way.”
Bruno on the impact of our #UELfinal defeat ⤵️#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) May 21, 2025
The team’s flat performance also brought a torrent of criticism for manager Rúben Amorim. He stood stock still as his team created nothing, resisting the urge to make changes until the 71st minute. Substitutions are not guaranteed to impact a game positively, but when your side is passing the ball around aimlessly, it might be time to try something.
Alejandro Garnacho was furious to play just 19 minutes (plus stoppage time), taking to Instagram to complain, while his brother accused Amorim of “throwing him under the bus.” Harry Maguire did not want to end up playing striker and chasing the game, but did so anyway.
Add in the uncertainty around Marcus Rashford’s future, and that’s a lot to wade through for the Portuguese coach. Suddenly, the conversation has shifted from “Will Postecoglou keep his job?” to “Will Amorim keep his?” If you missed Glasner at 3-to-1 for the Spurs’ job, he’s 6-to-1 for this one!
More Europa League reaction
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(Photo of Bruno Fernandes: Justin Setterfield / Getty Images)