Key events
Whatever happened to old-school cup final records? Well, Spurs have one, To Dare is to Do, written by Oscar-winning singer songwriters an producers Jimmy Napes and Paul Epworth. More a gentle swayalong number than a raucous terrace chant but a reasonable equivalent to Arsenal’s North London Forever. And proceeds all go to Noah’s Ark Hospice in Barnet.
Guardiola threatens to quit over squad size: An interesting line from Pep Guardiola’s post-match presser last night, the Manchester City manager threatening to quit unless his squad’s size is reduced. Guardiola feels it’s unfair on those members of his squad denied sufficient game time. Guess he’ll never get the Chelsea gig then. Whether he’ll still say that in the midst of a mid-November injury crisis and lean run, well we’ll see.
“I said to the club I don’t want that [a bigger squad. I don’t want to leave five or six players in the freezer. I don’t want that. I will quit. Make a shorter squad, I will stay. It’s impossible for my soul to give my players in the tribune [stands] that they cannot play. Now it happened to add players immediately.
“Maybe [for] three, four months we couldn’t select 11 players, we didn’t have defenders, it was so difficult. After people come back but next season it cannot be like that. As a manager I cannot train 24 players and every time I select I have to have four, five, six stay in Manchester at home because they cannot play. This is not going to happen. I said to the club. I don’t want that.”
Preamble
Morning everyone and happy Europa League final day, whether you’re reading this on the sly at work or on a park bench in Bilbao. There’s a curious air of anticipation around this evening’s final – on the one hand it’s an absurdity, two dismal English top-flight sides flaunting the Premier League’s wealth on Basque Country streets, a damning indictment of European football’s dysfunctional, lopsided finances. Scores of much better run clubs across the continent will be looking on enviously, and perhaps bitterly.
On the other hand, cup football … isn’t it. The very randomness of teams being mostly rubbish except in one competition is part of the allure of knockout football, and it’s notable that almost everything good about this season has come in eliminator rounds, from a revitalised English FA Cup to the Inter-Barça blockbuster the other week. So let’s drink it in, as those carousing on the streets of Bilbao will be – with or without hotel rooms.
We’ll be counting down the hours to kick-off with all the latest news and buildup, as well as looking back on last night’s semi-meaningful but very emotional Premier League action, as Palace fans greeted the FA Cup for the first time and Manchester City’s home crowd serenaded Kevin De Bruyne for the last time.
In the meantime, make yourself a brew and get stuck into Jonathan Wilson’s big-match preview, David Hytner on Big Ange’s likely Spurs exit regardless, and Daniel Harris’s look at Ruben Amorim’s necessary emotional intelligence:
