Key events
The Europa League has definitely been enhanced with the carrot of Champions League qualification, first introduced in 2014-15. The only thing is that, in certain cases, the glory of winning a European trophy sometimes feels a little overshadowed by that same carrot.
For Manchester United, for example, who have a proud history of winning the European Cup/Champions League, adding another Europa League probably doesn’t mean a great deal to the trophy cabinet/board/fans, despite all the noise about creating winning habits, etc. Champions League qualification is invaluable, though, especially for a club that has so publicly pleaded poverty and cut costs. United are in action tonight in their own quarter-final, remember, against Lyon. You can follow along with Scott Murray here.
Tottenham are a different beast. They are not at Newcastle levels of silverware droughts but winning the Europa League would be their biggest scalp in at least 34 years (1991 FA Cup) and perhaps back to the Uefa Cup triumph of 1984. I perhaps did Spurs a disservice in the preamble – this competition means more than just Champions League qualification to Tottenham – although that is a huge bonus.
This is what Postecoglou had to say in the lead up to tonight’s match:
Because I don’t define my career and me as a person by what people think about me. I never have. Never will. If you don’t think I’m a good coach today, you won’t think I’m a good coach tomorrow, even if we win. One game ain’t going to make a difference to that. You either think I’m capable of doing the job now or you don’t.
That’s where I sit with these things. If people think that us winning tomorrow all of a sudden makes me a better manager than what I am today or us losing tomorrow somehow makes me a worse manager, I guess that’s their burden, not mine. I don’t think that way and I don’t think most people think that way. Or I’d like to think they don’t, in terms of their own sort of self-esteem and who they are as people. I couldn’t care less.
Preamble
Rarely has a quarter-final been so decisive for a team’s season, or a manager’s future. If Tottenham lose this game, and exit the Europa League, then their season is definitely over and it will almost certainly spell the end of Ange Postecoglou’s tenure. Spurs are 15th in the Premier League, and while they are not mathematically safe from relegation, there is nothing left to play for domestically, apart from pride. Managers in N17 have been booted out with a much better record than that.
But win? Tottenham will be just three games from silverware and the promise of the Champions League. And should they qualify for Europe’s elite competition next season – with all the riches and prestige that that entails – then the season, and Ange’s job, will be saved. In a footballing world full of permutations and and and is a thrill (for the neutral, at least) for things to be so binary.
Things are a little rosier for Frankfurt, and not only because they survived the Tottenham onslaught last week to escape the first leg with a 1-1 draw. Now, with the second leg at home, the German side are probably favourites to progress to the last four. This is a club with serious pedigree – the Eagles won the Europa League in 2022 under Oliver Glasner (beating Rangers on penalties in the final) and are currently third in the Bundesliga, well on course to qualify for the Champions League. Tottenham might shout about how ‘the game is about glory’ (and not ‘meeting PSR requirements by qualifying for the Champions League’) but for Frankfurt, the Europa League really is just about winning a major trophy.
Spurs should be thankful that Omar Marmoush made the January switch to Manchester City but in Hugo Ekitike, Eintracht have another of the most exciting young forwards in Europe. Signed from PSG in 2024, in effect replacing Randal Kolo Muani who had gone the other way a year previous. From André Silva, Sébastien Haller, Kolo Muani, Luka Jovic, Frankfurt certainly know how to pick a striker, and Ekitike is the latest off the wagon. With 21 goals in all competitions this season, he’s very good in front of goal, and very nervous when petting the club’s mascot, Attila the eagle.
Allow Instagram content?
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click ‘Allow and continue’.
It’s the eagles against the cockerel. Join me.
Kick-off: 8pm BST.
