One Last Shot For Despairing United, Spurs

Europa final success can save their season and guarantee Champions League place

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BILBAO - Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will slug it out in the Europa League final in Bilbao on May 21, 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 (S$173 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 towards 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 May 16 in their last outing ahead of the final.

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