CRYSTAL PALACE fans have been struck by another bout of tough luck as the Premier League has rescheduled their upcoming match with Aston Villa
The match, scheduled to be held at Villa Park on Friday August 29th, has been moved to a 7pm Sunday kick-off.
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Crystal Palace have been struck by another blow as their match with Aston Villa was rescheduled to a very impractical time for travelling fansCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Palace fans will have to make the 200+ mile round trip for the 7pm kick off on Sunday at Villa Park and be ready for their early starts the next dayCredit: Getty
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The move adds insult to injury following the confirmation of their demotion to the Europa Conference League for the upcoming season.
The rescheduling has been made to accommodate the second leg of the Eagles’ opening fixture of that competition.
They will face either Fredrikstad or Midtjylland on August 28th.
The decision has piled the misery on to fans who are only just coming to terms with the brutal rejection of their CAS appeal on Monday.
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Some fans have taken to social media to voice their dissatisfaction with the impractical timing of the fixture.
One fan said: “7pm on a Sunday is outrageous.”
Another sarcastically pointed out the difficulties the fixture can bring travelling fans.
They said: “Oh brilliant. That will be fun with an early shift the next day.”
KYLE WALKER angered Manchester City fans after admitting he would sacrifice one of his Premier League medals to have been part of Tottenham’s Europa League triumph.
The Etihad club captain left Pep Guardiola stunned when he asked for a move away in January — when City were right in the middle of a crisis.
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Kyle Walker said he would give up one of his Prem titles to have won the Europa League with SpursCredit: YouTube/BBC Sounds
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Walker won the league with City six timesCredit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
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Spurs ended their 17-year trophy drought by beating United in the finalCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
He joined AC Milan on loan but the Italians turned down the option to sign him permanently.
And boss Pep left the 35-year-old right-back out of his Club World Cup squad, meaning he is free to find a new club.
But City fans were angry when Walker revealed on his BBC podcast he would have loved to have been with former club Spurs as they ended their 17-year trophy drought.
Walker has won six Premier League titles at City and was part of their Treble-winning side in 2022-23.
He said: “I’d probably give up one Premier League title, not the first, to have won that Europa League with Tottenham because I know what it means.
“Probably my second — although that was the ‘Four-midables’ [when they won all four domestic trophies].
“It’s hard to give one away but for what that moment meant, to say I was in that Spurs squad that won a trophy.”
City fans slammed Walker, with one saying: “Just ban this guy from the Etihad and get it over and done with. He’s already freely hating us, why protect whatever is left of his relationship with the club.”
Another added: “Mental. I could never ever imagine John Stones, Nathan Ake, Samir Nasri, Carlos Tevez ever coming out and saying they would give up even a Community Shield to win a trophy at a former club.”
Tottenham supporters were delighted to see that he still loves the club, as one commented: “Great to hear you say ‘we’ when referring to Spurs.”
Roy Keane slams ‘LAZY’ Kyle Walker for role in Senegal goal vs England as ITV star says ‘can’t make mistakes like that’
A second said: “As a Spurs fan, it was really heartwarming to hear Kyle’s words and his feelings connected to the Europa League final. I was gutted when he left for Man City, but I’ve always been happy seeing him win trophy after trophy.”
Walker — who spent eight years on Tottenham’s books — admitted he was a bag of nerves watching his old club beat Manchester United 1-0 last month.
He added: “It was the first time in a long time I’ve been nervous — and I wasn’t even playing.
“I was there with my iPad and I couldn’t sit and watch it. I was walking up and down my room.
“We reached a lot of finals but against better teams who knew how to win.
“They’ve always been a club that nearly got over the line but not quite. I’m buzzing for them.”
Walker joined City from Spurs in July 2017 and has a year left on his deal.
ANGE POSTECOGLOU sent a heartwarming text message to Tottenham midfielder Yves Bissouma.
The Aussie boss wassacked on Friday – just 16 days after leading Spurs to their first trophy in 17 years as they beatManchester Unitedin theEuropa Leaguefinal.
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Ange Postecoglou was sacked by Tottenham on Friday
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Spurs midfielder Yves Bissouma has revealed his private WhatsApp exchange with Postecoglou
Many of the Tottenham squad – including captainSon Heung-minandJames Maddison– were quick to post emotional messages of gratitude to Postecoglou.
And Bissouma has now revealed his own WhatsApp exchange with his former manager onSnapchat.
The conversation begins with Postecoglou writing: “Hi Biss. Sorry I missed your call. I am very proud of you.
“It was an honour to share a dressing room with you and appreciate how much you believed in what we were trying to achieve.
“I wish you only the best for the future. I will always be following. Much love from my family to yours.’
Bissouma replied just over an hour later with: “Thank you gaffer and thank you really much for everything on and off the pitch I’ll always be grateful.
“The way you believed me and trusted me was incredible. I’m gonna miss you but it’s football life.
“Got a lot to be said but I think you know what I’m thinking about you already so I’m just wishing you all the best for the future and may God protect you and your family. #bigboss love.”
The exchange ended with the 59-year-old responding: “Always by your side Biss 🙏.”
BBC star shares shock theory as to why Tottenham waited exactly 16 days after Europa League win to sack Ange Postecoglou
Bissouma was one of the best players on the pitch during Spurs’ Europa League final win 16 days before Postecoglou was axed, and has the former Celtic boss saved as ‘Big Ange’ in his phone.
TOTTENHAM fans will welcome home their Europa League winners back to North London TODAY.
The Spurs faithful have flocked onto the streets to witness Ange Postecoglou‘s side parade the European trophy that ended their 17-year wait for silverware.
The parade will run from Edmonton Green, past the stadium, loop around Northumberland Park and then return to the ground.
Start time: From 5.30pm BST
FREE live stream: Tottenham’s official YouTube channel
Tottenham’s qualification mean there will be six English teams competing in the Champions League next season.
Liverpool and Arsenal have booked their place which means Manchester City, Newcastle, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest will fight it out for the final three spots on Sunday.
Tottenham Players leave team hotel after Europa League triumph over Man United
MANCHESTER United and Tottenham Spurs fans are guzzling pints and partying on the streets of Bilbao in the run up to the season-saving Europa League final.
Fans gather ahead of the UEFA Europa League Final football matchCredit: Getty
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Spurs and and Manchester Utd fans gather in Bilbao ahead of tonights Europa league final .Credit: Darren Fletcher
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A Manchester United fan and Tottenham Hotspur fan smile at one another
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Tottenham Hotspur fan Jangwon Son plays the trumpet ahead of the UEFA Europa League FinalCredit: Getty
Bilbao bars have been flooded with Brit fans chanting and drinking ahead of the anticipated final tonight.
Both sets of supporters have been pictured marching through the streets, chanting songs with drinks in hand as they gear up for the Europa League final.
Images show one Spurs fan playing the trumpet for gargantuan crowds, while Man United supporters hold up their beers to cheers.
Footage taken by The Sun showed fans filling the streets, with around 70,000 fans thought to have flocked to Spain – despite the stadium being at 53,000-capacity.
Some have braved an epic 32-hour-plus ferry ride which set sail at 10pm on Sunday evening and didn’t arrive until this morning.
With flights to Spain rocketing over £1,000 after the Prem teams sealed their final spots, many took advantage of the cheaper sea-route option, which set them back £260 for a cabin.
The sky-high air prices are due to just six direct flights from Britain to the Basque region’s industrial port city each day.
And with only 65 hotels in Spain’s tenth largest city, accommodation has been fully-booked for weeks.
Each club has millions of fans across the globe, but since there are just 14,000 tickets allocated to each team, bagging a seat to the showpiece event has been a tricky task.
On Sunday night, precious tickets to the big game were selling on the black market for up to £10,000.
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Tottenham Hotspur fans standing on top of traffic lightsCredit: Getty
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Spurs fans holding up their pintsCredit: Reuters
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Manchester United gather in BilabaoCredit: Reuters
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Both sets of supporters have been pictured marching through the streetsCredit: Getty
EasyJet was charging £1,823 to fly from Gatwick to Bilbao on Wednesday morning and return on Thursday morning, while the cheapest hotels for Wednesday night cost around £1,200.
But for those fans who managed to snap up the golden tickets, footage has shown them enjoying themselves.
Despite dismal Premier League seasons – United finishing 16th in the table and Spurs in 17th, perilously close to the relegation zone – die-hard supporters were emptying their bank accounts and flocking to Bilbao.
Aside from European glory, the victorious team qualifies for next season’s cash-riddled Champions League, worth a cool £100m to the club lifting the prized trophy.
The travel chaos endured by thousands of footie fans has mirrored the 1987 American road trip comedy movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles starring Steve Martin and John Candy.
Spurs fan John Affleck of Enfield, Herts., was today enjoying local delicacy pintxos – snacks on a slice of bread resembling an open sandwich – washed down with Sangria.
He told The Sun: “I flew to Madrid then got the train down. There are no hotel rooms so I’m bunking up with a pal on his hotel floor.
“The trip will cost me more than £5,000. I’m broke, but I really don’t care. We just need to win.”
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Manchester United fans in high spirits ahead of tonightCredit: PA
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Fans drinking beer before the UEFA Europa League FinalCredit: Alamy
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Fans of Tottenham Hotspur gather to show their support to their team
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Fans have filled the streetsCredit: Getty
Frank Johns, a Red Devils season ticket holder, jetted out yesterday from Heathrow via Schiphol in Amsterdam.
He said: “It has been a pitiful season but none of that will matter if we lift the trophy.”
Under-fire Ruben Amorim and Ange Postecoglou face the chop if they don’t prevail in the final – cruelly dubbed “El Crapico” by rival fans and pundits.
Amorim masterminded Manchester United’s 7-1 semi-final demolition of ten-man Athletic Bilbao.
And Postecoglou guided his Tottenham team to a 5-1 triumph over Norwegians Bodo/Glimt in the other to set up the all-English final.
Tottenham were beaten 2-0 by Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League final, while Chelsea beat Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final in the same year.
United beat Chelsea in the 2008 Champions League final and Spurs KO’d Wolves to win the 1972 Uefa Cup.
Tottenham have already beaten the Manchester outfit on three occasions this season – twice in the league and once in the Carabao Cup.
They are looking to end a trophy drought that dates back to 2008 and has hung over the club – to the delight of opposing fans.
United meanwhile have continued to be dire in the Prem with Amorim claiming his side are “not ready” to be competitive domestically and in the Champions League.
IT’S barely midday in Bilbao on the day before the Europa League final between Manchester United and Spurs – but it’s already getting lively.
I arrived in the city at about 9am after a 32-HOUR ferry ride from Portsmouth.
And the first thing a lot of fellow fans planned to do was find a pub for a well-earned drink.
Walking around the area around the San Mames stadium this morning, a fair few others had the same idea.
Many have had long journeys, stopping off overnight in another city to keep down the soaring cost of getting here, with some direct flights over £1,000.
So it’s no surprise many are already getiing the party started, or the Bilbao leg of the party anyway.
Spurs fan Gary, who flew out from London before an overnight stay in a Madrid hotel resembling a “prison cell”, joked as he supped a pint in the sun: “I’m just getting some practice in for tomorrow.”
The atmosphere has been brilliant so far, and hopefully that will continue.
There had been claims that Spurs fans are set to outnumber United fans by 5 to 1, with an estimated 50,000 supporters of the two English sides expected to arrive.
One Tottenham follower I spoke to joked that they had bought all the flights out of London to keep the Reds out.
Based on the number of Spurs shirts I’ve already seen, he might be right.
Six months before a January transfer window deal took Fernandes to Old Trafford from Sporting Lisbon for £47million, Spurs were deep in discussions to sign the midfielder.
There had been five meetings between the two parties with Fernandes’ camp left impressed by their structure and Sporting all set to accept the bid.
Of the talks, a source involved in the talks told the BBC: “They were absolutely next level when it comes to detail.
Even the rooms at the training ground – each one was decorated just like the players’ bedrooms at home, the ones they share with their partners.
“The bed was exactly the same. Even the flowers in the garden gave off a scent that’s meant to be beneficial – it was mind-blowing.”
However, the deal fell through when the Sporting board decided to hold out for an offer twice the size which ultimately never arrived, before selling Raphinha to Rennes instead.
Indeed, Fernandes had been so convinced he would be leaving that when club president Frederico Varandas tried to explain the situation he told him to go away.
“Tottenham fit into everything I wish I had at that moment. It is an appealing championship. Knowing that Tottenham would be willing to pay for me and make every possible effort to take me, leaves a player eager to take that step.”
Up 70k Man United and Spurs fans begin flooding Bilbao soaking up sun & cervezas ahead of Europa League final
In the last five years, no outfield player has made more appearances (288) or played more minutes (24,747) across Europe‘s top five leagues than Fernandes.
The all-action club captain has almost single-handedly kept the team afloat this season with 19 goals and 19 assists in all competitions.
That includes 12 goal contributions in the Europa League, featuring a hat-trick in the last-16 against Real Sociedad, a penalty in the 5-4 win at Old Trafford over Lyon and a brace in Spain against Athletic Bilbao.
Earlier this month, he had said: “The manager and physio say that I need to relax and rest, but I say no. When I die, I will have a lot of time to lay down and rest.”
Fernandes is one of five players still at Man Utd who was in the matchday squad when the club fell to defeat on penalties against Villarreal in the final in 2021.
Man Utd have lost to Spurs three times this season – twice in the Prem and once in the League Cup – but have the chance to salvage the club’s worst-ever Premier League finish with a European trophy and a spot in next season’s Champions League.
WATCH the shocking moments a brawl erupts between Manchester United and Tottenham fans as punches get thrown ahead of the Europa League final.
Up to 70,000 Man Utd and Tottenham fans have flooded the streets of sunny Bilbao in good spirits and with drinks flowing.
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Shocking footage shows Man Utd and Spurs fans brawl in Bilbao’s streetsCredit: X
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This football hooligan is pictured picking up a wheelie bin before throwing it at the opposing fansCredit: X
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Football fans can be seen hurling whatever they can get their hands on during the vicious brawlCredit: X
However, the mood took a dark turn with footage surfacing on X of a brawl between the two sets of supporters.
In the shocking video, a large group of football hooligans are seen brawling as they throw objects and punches at each other.
Residents alerted authorities at around 9.20pm after they witnessed violent behaviour on Fermín Calbetón Street.
Witnesses say the fight broke out when two large groups of supporters began shouting and hurling insults,
It quickly escalated into a full-blown brawl, with both Man Utd and Spurs fans grabbing whatever they could to throw at each other.
One hooligan overturned a terrace table and used it as a weapon against the other group.
Drinks and bins were also hurled, creating a chaotic scene that posed a serious risk to local businesses and passersby.
Several local police patrols rushed to the scene after reports of the brawl and quickly restored order.
No arrests have been made so far, but officers have stayed in the area to keep the situation under control.
An ambulance was also dispatched, with several people treated at the scene.
Up 70k Man United and Spurs fans begin flooding Bilbao soaking up sun & cervezas ahead of Europa League final
However, after further assessment, staff determined no one needed to be taken to the hospital.
It comes as tens of thousands of Brits landed in Bilbao ahead of the highly anticipated final.
Some are braving an epic 32-hour-plus ferry ride which set sail at 10pm on Sunday evening and won’t arrive until 8am on Tuesday morning.
With flights to Spain rocketing over £1,000 after the Prem teams sealed their final spots, many took advantage of the cheaper sea-route option, which set them back £260 for a cabin.
The sky-high air prices are due to just six direct flights from Britain to the Basque region’s industrial port city each day.
And with only 65 hotels in Spain’s tenth largest city, accommodation has been fully booked for weeks.
Each club has millions of fans across the globe, but since there are just 14,000 tickets allocated to each team, bagging a seat to the showpiece event has been a tricky task.
Last night, precious tickets to the big game were selling on the black market for up to £10,000.
EasyJet was charging £1,823 to fly from Gatwick to Bilbao on Wednesday morning and return on Thursday morning, while the cheapest hotels for Wednesday night cost around £1,200.
But for those fans who managed to snap up the golden tickets, footage has shown them enjoying themselves.
A Bilbao bar was flooded with Brit fans chanting and drinking ahead of the anticipated final.
Spurs fans were also seen welcoming the team bus as it arrived in the city one day before the clash.
Footage taken by The Sun showed fans arriving to fill the streets of Bilbao about 40 hours before kick-off.
Both sets of supporters have been pictured marching through the streets, chanting songs with beers in hand as they gear up for the Europa League final.
IT’S barely midday in Bilbao on the day before the Europa League final between Manchester United and Spurs – but it’s already getting lively.
I arrived in the city at about 9am after a 32-HOUR ferry ride from Portsmouth.
And the first thing a lot of fellow fans planned to do was find a pub for a well-earned drink.
Walking around the area around the San Mames stadium this morning, a fair few others had the same idea.
Many have had long journeys, stopping off overnight in another city to keep down the soaring cost of getting here, with some direct flights over £1,000.
So it’s no surprise many are already getiing the party started, or the Bilbao leg of the party anyway.
Spurs fan Gary, who flew out from London before an overnight stay in a Madrid hotel resembling a “prison cell”, joked as he supped a pint in the sun: “I’m just getting some practice in for tomorrow.”
The atmosphere has been brilliant so far, and hopefully that will continue.
There had been claims that Spurs fans are set to outnumber United fans by 5 to 1, with an estimated 50,000 supporters of the two English sides expected to arrive.
One Tottenham follower I spoke to joked that they had bought all the flights out of London to keep the Reds out.
Based on the number of Spurs shirts I’ve already seen, he might be right.
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Residents alerted authorities at 9.20pm after witnessing violent behaviour on Fermín Calbetón StreetCredit: X
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Witnesses say both sets of supporters began hurling insults before the chaos eruptedCredit: X
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A football fan is pictured punching an opposing supporterCredit: X
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Police arrived at the scene and quickly got the situation under controlCredit: X
TOTTENHAM and Manchester United will meet in Bilbao on Wednesday for a Europa League date with destiny.
The Premier League strugglers both hold a golden opportunity to salvage their season by seizing glory in Spain.
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Man Utd and Tottenham are set for a date with destiny in BilbaoCredit: Getty
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Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim are both desperate to salvage their seasonsCredit: Getty
Languishing 17th and 16th in the Prem respectively, Spurs and United have endured woeful league campaigns.
But several omens suggest that it could be a glorious end to a difficult season for either side.
TOTTENHAM
It’s been well documented that Spurs have not won a trophy since lifting the League Cup in 2008.
Ange Postecoglou has come under fire for his side’s awful league campaign.
But Juande Ramos and George Graham being Tottenham’s most recent trophy-winning managers suggests that it’s not necessarily their best or most popular bosses that can get them over the line.
Spurs can also take heart from seeing teams on far longer trophy droughts than them breaking their ducks.
In March, Newcastle upset the odds to beat Liverpool in the Carabao Cup final – earning their first silverware since lifting the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1969.
And just last week, Italian side Bologna won the Coppa Italia – beating AC Milan 1-0 in Rome to end a 51-year wait for a trophy.
Former Tottenham hero Harry Kane recently won the Bundesliga at the second time of asking, scoring 26 goals along the way to earning the first trophy of his career.
It’s been the season of fresh trophy winners – and Spurs will be hoping to join the party by earning their third Europa League triumph, having won its former iteration, the Uefa Cup, in 1971 and 1984.
How Europa League final will be decided – four key Man Utd vs Tottenham tactical battles
MAN UTD
The Red Devils’ mid-season managerial change is yet to bear fruit.
That suspension ends at the end of next month, freeing him up to come back to his role at Spurs.
Paratici will have an influence on who Tottenham go for next in the dugout provided there is no emotional U-turn on Postecoglou if he is triumphant in Europe.
That is not expected to happen given the team’s disastrous league campaign.
Spurs have racked up a record 21 defeats and are languishing in 17th place.
Paratici is understood to have close ties to Simone Inzaghi.
But the Inter Milan chief is set to stick with the Champions League finalists next season.
We’ve all heard it. The derisory chant from opposition fans when one of the so-called ‘big guns’ is having an off day.
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Six English teams will qualify for next season’s Champions LeagueCredit: Getty
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Either Tottenham or Man Utd will earn Champions League qualification this season despite finishing 17th or 16th in the Premier LeagueCredit: Getty
For example, Southampton supporters had every right to aim it at the multi-billionaires of Manchester City last weekend, when they couldn’t find a way past the worst team in the Premier League.
Only now what was once a mildly amusing terrace jibe sums up perfectly what the leading club competition in the world has become. A joke.
Next season there will be a record SIX English teams in the Champions League.
Almost one third of the entire Premier League will be waved straight into the bizarre league phase by Uefa’s welcoming doormen at an empty small town disco on a wet Tuesday night.
Anyone can come in. From Liverpool who finished top, right down to hapless Tottenham or abject Manchester United hovering above the relegation zone.
It is time to officially ban the phrase ‘elite competition’ whenever the Champions League is mentioned on TV and radio or written in print.
There was a time when you had to win your domestic league to progress into the highest level of European football the following season.
From winning five Premier League games in a row, they went winless in the next five and couldn’t string a pass together.
They lag 20 POINTS behind the bona fide champions of England from Anfield and are fifth.
Don’t bet against them being in next season’s Champions League.
The constant tinkering and chiselling away at a once simple game has led to Uefa getting its knickers in a right old twist.
Fifth in this year’s Premier League grants a free pass into the treasure trove of the Champions League thanks to the coefficients which measure success where once it was about winning.
A whole page is devoted to thrill-a-minute ‘coefficients’ on the governing body’s website to explain how a system that would baffle Stephen Hawking’s much cleverer cousin actually works: “Uefa calculates the coefficient of each club each season based on the clubs’ results in the Uefa Champions League, Uefa Europa League and Uefa Conference League.
“The season coefficients from the five most recent seasons are used to rank the clubs for seeding purposes (sporting club coefficient).
“In addition, the season coefficients from the ten most recent seasons are used to calculate revenue club coefficients for revenue distribution purposes only.”
And that’s just the overview.
There’s a gag in there somewhere about how many coefficients does it take to ruin a game of football? Only I can’t see a funny punch line.
There was a time back when the world was black and white in the 1950s when two imaginative French journalists took inspiration from South America and came up with the idea of the best clubs from each country competing for a trophy on our continent.
Ironically, it wasn’t called the Champions League back then. It was the plain old European Cup. A cup fought over by teams in Europe. Simple eh?
Liverpool’s first steps into the European Cup came in 1964, our sole representatives having won the league the previous season under Bill Shankly.
Next season they share the honour with five other English teams and some of them are pretty ordinary.
If Spurs win the Europa League and follow it up by winning the Champions League next year, the champions of Europe will come from a team currently 17th in England’s top division.
You can argue it won’t happen. Yet somehow a side which has lost more league games than it has won this season is in a European final next week.
That’s cup football for you and it’s a wonderful lottery. Qualification for the Champions League is not. It’s a boring carve up.
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The top five teams in the Premier League will qualify for the Champions League due to European coefficientsCredit: AFP
MANCHESTER UNITED and Tottenham will face off in the Europa League final next week in a battle for a place amongst Europe’s elite.
The winner will earn a spot in next season’s Champions League, a reward that is potentially worth in excess of £100MILLION.
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Manchester United are preparing to take on Tottenham in the Europa League finalCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Spurs are hoping to end a 17-year wait for a trophyCredit: Getty
Much has been made about whether that prize is suitable or not, given that United and Spurs currently occupy 16th and 17th spot in the Premier League – but Uefa aren’t changing their rules for the two underachievers.
Qualification would mean a huge amount to both clubs, with the lure of the Champions League meaning more top talent could be enticed to join in the summer – not to mention a huge boost to their transfer kitty.
For Spurs, the money would be the cherry on top of the giant cake that is ending their 17-year wait for a trophy.
While United almost NEED to win the competition given their current financial situation, with a defeat meaning a huge loss in potential revenue amid a slew of cost-cutting measure by Sir Jim Racliffe and his Ineos team.
Once getting to the Champions League, advancing to the very end could earn up to a potential £95m extra for the eventual winner – but United and Spurs will be aware that their chances of going all the way are slim.
In fact, of the eight different teams that have gained qualification into the Champions League by winning the Europa League over the last 10 years, just one has made it to the semi-finals.
That was Villarreal, who were knocked out of the tournament by eventual winners Liverpool.
Man Utd entered the competition thanks to their 2017 Europa League success under Jose Mourinho, only to lost to Sevilla in the Round of 16.
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Man Utd won the Europa League in 2017Credit: Getty Images – Getty
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Chelsea earned a Champions League spot with their 2019 Europa League successCredit: Reuters
While Chelsea did the same in 2019 and were kicked out by Bayern Munich in the last 16 too.
United and Chelsea are two of six teams that reached the last 16 after qualifying through the Europa League.
‘I’d dive head first through a brick wall for him’ – Ange Postecoglou’s rallying speech reduces Tottenham fans to tears
While Sevilla have twice failed to advance through the group stages and Atalanta were knocked out of this year’s competition in the qualifying knockout round.
Although it makes for bleak reading for Man Utd and Spurs fans, it’s worth noting that the lure – and cash injection – of playing in the Champions League has helped teams who qualified through the Europa League attract big players.
Chelsea were unable to purchase players following their success as they were hit with a transfer ban following academy player rule breaches.
Either way, the prize waiting for the winner of next week’s ‘Hell Clasico’ is something which cannot be underestimated and could have a huge impact on either club for years to come.
