BILBAO: Manchester United and Tottenham will slug it out in the Europa League final on Wednesday in Bilbao, with both sides desperately seeking salvation from dismal Premier League campaigns through silverware and a golden ticket into next season’s Champions League.

A potential £100 million ($133 million) honey pot for reaching Europe’s top competition is on the line at the San Mames stadium between two sides languishing near the bottom of the English top flight.

Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils are 16th and with 18 league defeats are enduring their worst top flight campaign in half a century, since their 1974 relegation.

One place lower lie Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs, beaten a club-record 21 times in the league, and on course for their worst season since returning to the top tier in 1978.

With both teams fixated on Europe, their plunge toward the table’s lower echelons has only accelerated in recent weeks.

United are winless in eight league games, their worst such run in Premier League history, falling at Chelsea on Friday in their last outing ahead of the final.

Tottenham also slumped to defeat at Aston Villa for their fifth loss in six league matches.

Spurs are twice winners of this competition, but their victory in 1984 was the club’s last European trophy and they have not won any silverware for 17 years.

They reached a maiden Champions League final in 2019 but came up short in another all-English battle in Spain, losing against Liverpool in a drab contest.

“When you look at the historical backdrop of this club for the past 20-odd years, I feel (this final) could be a turning point,” said Postecoglou last week.

Despite United’s gradual decline since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, they did win the FA Cup and League Cup in the past two seasons under Amorim’s predecessor Erik ten Hag.

The Portuguese has endured a torrid time since taking charge in November, winning just six of his 26 Premier League games.

But the Europa League has been a different story as United thrashed Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao, either side of a famous fightback from 6-4 down to beat Lyon 7-6 on aggregate in the quarter-finals that sparked memories of the club’s dramatic Champions League final victory in 1999.

Amorim, though, is aware of the scale of the task he faces to turn around the 20-time English champions.

“I’m not concerned about the final, it’s by far the smallest problem in our club,” said the former Sporting Lisbon boss.

“We need to change something that is deeper than this.”

Tottenham were once seen as not much trouble for an all-conquering United.

Former United great Roy Keane revealed once Ferguson’s team talk was limited to a dismissive “lads, it’s Spurs.”

This season the London side have won all three meetings, twice in the Premier League as well as in the League Cup, with Postecoglou unbeaten in five matches at the helm against United.

“If you think about the odds it’s hard for the club to lose four times in a row,” said Amorim.

With players like Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro, United have both experience and quality at their disposal.

“They know how to win trophies, Tottenham don’t,” said former United midfielder Paul Scholes, who played alongside Keane.

Despite the team’s diabolical domestic form the Portuguese coach is expected to stay, bolstered by the thrilling unbeaten surge to the Europa League final.

The same cannot be said for Postecoglou. The Australian is almost certain to depart if he fails to deliver on his promise to win a trophy in his second season in charge.

Spurs’ bad luck with injuries this season continues with midfielders James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall and Dejan Kulusevski all missing for the final, but captain Son Heung-min is back fit.

They survived an Arctic trip in the semifinals at Bodo/Glimt, but Postecoglou may still be frozen out even if his team triumphs.

“(If we win) it’s going to upset a lot of people isn’t it?” said the Australian.

“Who cares if we’re struggling in the league ... I’m looking forward to it and it should be a great game.”

ROME: There’s only one player who is consistently beating Jannik Sinner.
Carlos Alcaraz defeated the top-ranked Sinner again, 7-6 (5), 6-1, to win his first Italian Open on Sunday and add another big clay-court title to his resume.
Since the start of last year, Alcaraz is the only player to beat Sinner more than once and now he’s done it four straight times.
“Just proud about myself, the way that I approached the match mentally. Tactically think I did it pretty well from the first to the last point,” Alcaraz said. “I maintained my level during the whole match.”

Alcaraz’s victory before Sinner’s home fans at the Foro Italico snapped the Italian’s 26-match winning streak, which stretched back to October — when Alcaraz beat him in the China Open final in a third-set tiebreaker. Alcaraz now leads the career series 7-4.
It was Sinner’s first tournament back after a three-month doping ban.
“I’m just really happy to see Jannik back at this amazing level,” Alcaraz said. “I’m sure it wasn’t easy for him coming back from three months without playing. Making the final here is something insane.”
Alcaraz also solidified his status as the favorite to defend his title at the French Open, which starts next Sunday.
“On clay right now, you’re the best player,” Sinner said.
Added Alcaraz, “Beating Jannik, winning Rome. I think both things mixed together give you a great confidence coming to Paris. I always say that the final is not about playing, the final is about winning, to go for it. I just repeated (that to) myself all the time.”
Alcaraz spoils Sinner’s return
Sinner was playing his first tournament since he won his third Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
In February, Sinner agreed to a settlement with the World Anti-Doping Agency that raised questions, since the three-month suspension allowed him not to miss any Grand Slams, and come back at his home tournament.

Sinner said he and his team went through “three months that were anything but easy, so achieving this result already here is really big” and that “we should be really proud.”
He added: “We’re bringing home a very special trophy, even if I wanted the other one.”
Sinner was attempting to become the first home man to win the Italian Open since Adriano Panatta in 1976. He was also trying to complete a sweep of the Rome singles titles for Italy after Jasmine Paolini won the women’s trophy on Saturday.
Paolini and partner Sara Errani also defended their women’s doubles title earlier Sunday, making Paolini the first woman since Monica Seles in 1990 to sweep Rome’s singles and doubles titles in the same year.
A large number of the 10,500 fans in Campo Centrale were decked out in orange — Sinner’s theme color — and they were chanting Sinner’s name before the match even began, and even after Sinner lost.
“You gave me a lot of energy, lot of courage to be here on court, I tried with everything I had,” Sinner told the crowd. “It was something very, very special. Thank you.”
Sinner also cracked a joke about offering “special thanks” to his brother, Mark, “who instead of being here, decided to go to Imola to watch Formula 1.”
 

Sinner wasted 2 set points
Sinner wasted two set points on Alcaraz’s serve when he led 6-5 in the first set and then Alcaraz jumped ahead in the tiebreaker with two aces and held on to seal it before cruising in the second set.
On Alcaraz’s third match point, Sinner ran down a drop shot but Alcaraz was waiting for his reply and hit a stretch volley winner into the open court.
Alcaraz then held his hands out wide and flashed a wide smile.
Alcaraz hit 19 winners to Sinner’s seven and only had one more unforced error than his opponent — 31-30. Half of Sinner’s errors came from his backhand, which is usually his most dependable shot.
Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, will move back up to No. 2 in the rankings on Monday after his third final in three clay-court events this season. He won the Monte Carlo Masters and finished runner-up in the Barcelona Open before withdrawing from the Madrid Open because of injury.
Having also won the Madrid Open in 2022 and 2023, Alcaraz became the fifth man to win all three Masters 1000 clay events after Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Gustavo Kuerten and Marcelo Rios.