Europa League Final: Arsenal fans must brace for Spurs noise, but should we really care?

Just Arsenal News

·20. Mai 2025

Europa League Final: Arsenal fans must brace for Spurs noise, but should we really care?

So it is time to address the elephant in the room. That letter posted through the door, the one you know is a bill, that you put in the drawer and told yourself you will deal with when you absolutely must. Well, the deadline is this Wednesday. It is time to confront it.

Not everyone feels comfortable talking about their grief, but it is important to acknowledge it.

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This week, Tottenham face Manchester United in the Europa League Final with a golden opportunity to end their 17-year wait for a trophy. Worse still, the winners will earn a place in the Champions League, despite currently sitting 16th and 17th in the Premier League.

Tottenham are 31 points behind Arsenal in the table, yet could end up with silverware and the same reward as the team finishing second domestically.

Make no mistake, we will never hear the end of it.

If Spurs win, the summer could get long

Our neighbours are waiting patiently to make their noise. They are keeping quiet for now, not wanting to jinx anything, and because they know how ridiculous their season looks if they fail in Spain. But if they are successful in Bilbao, this becomes a long summer for Arsenal fans. Some Gooners may need to take their medicine.

I warned fellow supporters earlier this season that some of the arrogance being displayed would come back to bite. When your club is known for collapsing under pressure, perhaps it is unwise to mock Real Madrid, who have won seven La Liga titles and six Champions Leagues since our last domestic crown.

Yes, a section of our fanbase might need humbling.

But equally, Spurs fans rarely enjoy bragging rights. Many who go to the Lane have grown up with nothing to show but a couple of League Cups. They are not going to take the chance to lift a European trophy lightly. If they cannot enjoy that moment, then when can they?

Part of their celebration will include rubbing our faces in the mud, kicking us while we are down, and reminding us at every opportunity that they are joining us at UEFA’s top table.

Still, banter has to make sense.

Some YouTubers, desperate for clicks, sacrifice football IQ for weak humour. One Arsenal fan was recently given a ‘participation trophy’ in jest for always finishing second. The only problem? The presenter was a Spurs fan. That irony kills the punchline.

Another Spurs supporter joined PSG ultras in celebrating after Arsenal’s Champions League exit, buying their shirt, going to the Emirates, and marching with them. In isolation, it is creative. In reality, it is a rival fan mocking a team for losing in a competition their own club failed to qualify for. Instead of laughing, I focus on the staggering lack of self-awareness.

And to be clear, Gooners can be guilty of the same. If Arsenal go missing on the big stage, mocking Real Madrid does not land. And if Spurs have built a reputation for failing to finish the job, they are hardly qualified to mock others.

(Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Who had the better season, really?

Which leads to a fair question, if Spurs win midweek, who had the better season?

If that sounds ridiculous, brace yourself, because our rivals will bang that drum all summer. One of them might even be Ange Postecoglou. For so long, the Australian came across as a decent bloke, but his recent comments since the semi-final have been unusual.

There is a difference between being better and being successful. Spurs now have the chance to create lifelong memories. If they win, they will become immortalised. Fans will look back on 2025 as the year, montages will be replayed forever, stories passed on to children and grandchildren.

Is that not why we follow sport?

Whether you believe the past 12 months have been progression or regression, no one will talk decades from now about when Arsenal finished second. If we are not providing a bus parade through North London in May, that says more about our failings than Spurs lifting a trophy we were not eligible for, because we play at a higher level.

I am not going to abandon common sense just to suit the narrative.

A cup win can paper over some cracks, but finishing 17th in the Premier League while celebrating a trophy is like putting a plaster on a deep wound. This is why Ange might still lose his job regardless of what happens at the Estádio San Mamés.

It is fascinating how both managers view the final. Ruben Amorim has made it clear that United finishing 16th is unacceptable. Spurs, on the other hand, are already in Bilbao a day earlier than usual. United will not even leave England until the day of the game.

Spurs have a street parade planned for Friday. United will celebrate with a barbecue at their training ground.

You do not hear many United fans planning to taunt City supporters if they win the final, they are too embarrassed by their league form.

One club plans to savour the moment. The other will simply breathe a sigh of relief.

If I were a fan of either, I know which stance I would rather my club take.

Roy Keane, a man who understands winning, is clear that losing every week while relying on a cup for salvation is a dangerous mindset. He is not alone. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, the Milan clubs, they would not gloat over lifting UEFA’s second-tier trophy while sitting in the bottom five of their league. These clubs draw a line they do not allow themselves to fall below.

That is perhaps the only thing Arsenal and Spurs have in common, yet it is a crucial one.

At Arsenal, the Kroenke family have supporters believing that after 21 years without a title, simply qualifying for the Champions League is acceptable. At Spurs, Daniel Levy has starved the fanbase to the point they will gladly tolerate 17th in exchange for silverware, and not even the best kind.

So, for the sake of avoiding a summer-long headache, we find ourselves in the unthinkable position.

On 21st May, we are all supporting Manchester United!

Dan Smith _____________________________________________________________________________________________

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