Does Spurs v Man United final expose flaw in new format?

IT WILL be a case of 16th in the English Premier League against 17th when Manchester United take on Tottenham in Wednesday night's Europa League final in Bilbao.

- ROWAN CALLAGHAN

The reward for the winner? A place at Europe's top table next season.

It hardly seems fair that Ruben Amorim's woeful United side and Ange Postecoglu's equally dismal Spurs could be competing with Europe's elite while Nottingham Forest could miss out. To put their struggles into perspective, even already relegated Leicester are in better form than Spurs and United at the moment.

Both sets of fans will argue, rightfully so, that they don't make the rules for the competition. However, the scenario is surely one that organisers Uefa could not have envisioned.

It's their greed that may be the cause of the current situation, as they hide behind the apparent 'altruistic' drive to expand the beautiful game to all parts of Europe.