Tottenham Hotspur centre-back Micky van de Ven has said his team won’t “fear” Manchester United in the Europa League final later this month.
Spurs booked their place in the competition’s showpiece event by beating Norway’s Bodo/Glimt 5-1 on aggregate, while Ruben Amorim’s United eased past Athletic Club. It’s the sixth all-English final in any European competition, and the third, interestingly, featuring Spurs.
Both teams are desperate to lift the trophy in Bilbao to mask their miserable domestic campaigns which only worsened at the weekend. They’ve combined for 36 defeats in the Premier League, with United currently 16th and Spurs 17th.
The two managers have long prioritised their respective clubs’ European journeys, with Ange Postecoglou holding back his strongest XI for Thursday nights since his team progressed into the knockout phase. Van de Ven has played a crucial role in Spurs’ progression to the final, starting in all but one of their knockout fixtures after recovering from a hamstring injury in March.
The speedy centre-back now harbours hope of helping Spurs to their first piece of silverware since 2008, and he’s well aware that it’s a make-or-break occasion for his team.
“Everybody goes to Bilbao to win a trophy. It has been a tough season and it will only be successful if we win the Europa League and get the trophy,” the Dutchman said, via Goal.
While Manchester United have claimed 13 major trophies since Spurs’ League Cup triumph 17 years ago, Postecoglou’s side should be emboldened by their impressive recent record against the Red Devils. United have lost all three head-to-head contests this season.
“[United] played Athletic Club, a really good team, and it was 7-1 over the two games. So they’ve also showed some real quality in Europe,” Van de Ven added.
“We know it’s going to be a different game, everything can happen in a final. But we’re not going there with fear, of course. We know our qualities, we know it’s going to be a difficult game, Man United showed their quality in this European campaign.”
