The North London side’s patience paid off after a 17 year wait for silverware, having last won a trophy when they beat rivals Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final at Wembley Stadium during the 2007-08 season.

The stage is set in Bilbao ⚪🆚🔴

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— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 21, 2025

While the Red Devils recently tasted glory when they defeated rivals Manchester City 2-1 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium last season, which secured their place in this season’s Europa League.

Spurs broke the deadlock in the 42nd minute when Pape Matar Sarr played the ball into the box with Luke Shaw and Brennan Johnson rushing in for the ball but Johnson got the better of Shaw to find the back of the net as the ball bobbles past Andre Onana and into the far corner.

Brennan Johnson breaks the deadlock ⚪💥

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— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 21, 2025

Man Utd camped out in the Spurs half in the dying moments of the game but could not find an equalising goal as Spurs held on to secure their first European trophy since 1984.

Micky van de Ven to the rescue 🤯🤯

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— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 21, 2025

Ange Postecoglou has delivered like he promised he would 😤🏆#UEL | #SSUEL pic.twitter.com/3tfJ375yEA

— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) May 21, 2025

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With two goals in the opening 20 minutes, Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund had given the visitors an incredible start.

However, Samu Omorodion’s double after Pepe’s goal put Porto back in the game had the English giants on the verge of defeat.

After that, Bruno Fernandes, United’s captain, was sent off for the second straight game; nonetheless, a corner header by Maguire allowed the 10 men to salvage a point.

After being held at home by FC Twente last week, Ten Hag’s club has now opened their Europa League season with two draws, placing them 21st out of 36 teams.

Furthermore, their manager will be under no less stress ahead of Sunday’s difficult Premier League trip to Aston Villa given the way they gave up after getting off to a quick start.

After winning the League Cup and FA Cup in his first two seasons as manager at Old Trafford, the former Ajax manager ended United’s six-year trophy drought. He has boldly defended his record.

Ten Hag also argued that he ought to be assessed at the conclusion of the season.

Even if Porto was the ones who created their own demise, Ten Hag could not have asked for a better beginning.

After a poor 2023–24 season, Rashford has shown signs of returning to his former form, as he opened the score with his fourth goal of the year.

The England forward darted past two Porto defenders and attempted a shot that Portugal’s top scorer, Diogo Costa, ought to have blocked.

After that, Rashford created the second goal when he feed Hojlund, who once more past Costa at his near post with a strong strike.

However, United’s two-goal lead was erased in seven minutes, just as Ten Hag was starting to feel relieved on the sidelines.

After Andre Onana made a fantastic save to keep Noussair Mazraoui’s header from going in, Pepe cut the deficit by stooping to head home the rebound.

If Omorodian hadn’t failed his physical, which caused his transfer from Atletico Madrid to go through, he may have been starting for Chelsea in the Premier League.

However, he has scored seven goals in his first six games for Porto, and his spectacular header tied the score for the home team.

After the interval, worse was to follow for the visiting team and their struggling manager.

Alejandro Garnacho took Rashford’s place at halftime, spoiling his good performance with an eye towards the Villa match.

On minute fifty, a lively counterattack by Porto tore apart the United defence once more.

Pepe dashed to the left, past Lisandro Martinez, and Omorodian, who had managed to get away from Matthijs de Ligt’s grasp, fired a low cross beyond Onana.

When Fernandes got back to Portugal, he was given a second yellow card.

However, Ten Hag’s removal from the captaincy was the one who had the opportunity to keep his job.

In the ninetieth minute, Maguire made the greatest leap to slam home Eriksen’s corner in order to save a point.

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For Atalanta, Lookman’s hat-trick in a European final was the first in 49 years.

Long have the Bergamo side lived in the shadow of the adjacent giants, AC and Inter Milan.

Under Gian Piero Gasperini, though, they have had a golden age, making it to the Champions League four times and now having silverware to show for it.

In their incredible journey to capture a first-ever Bundesliga title without suffering a setback, Leverkusen have developed a habit of late rallies.

They were unable to pull themselves out of a hole that a sluggish start had made, though, this time.

In the first twelve minutes, Atalanta’s more deliberate play was rewarded.

Lookman spotted Exequiel Palacios dozing off to fire into the back post’s top corner after Davide Zappacosta reached the by-line.

The Nigerian has occasionally had a nomadic career, moving about the Premier League on loan at Fulham and Leicester after being released by RB Leipzig.

Lookman, though, has made Bergamo his home and will always be a hero there.

His second goal, which came after he nutmegged Granit Xhaka and curled a strong effort into the far corner, was worthy of winning any final.

2-0 down was Xabi Alonso’s team’s fourth deficit in seven Europa League knockout games.

Flying fullbacks for Leverkusen have been the key to their incredible season and ought to have kept them in the game either side of halftime.

Before Jeremie Frimpong burned over with the goal gaping, Alex Grimaldo blasted tamely into Juan Musso’s arms.

Leverkusen were also denied a lifeline when Gianluca Scamacca was fortunate to escape with a yellow card for a violent challenge on Florian Wirtz.

Alonso has risen quickly to become one of the most attractive coaching prospects in Europe.

The Spaniard has turned down offers from previous teams Bayern Munich and Liverpool to stay at the BayArena for the upcoming campaign.

Alonso brought on Victor Boniface at halftime to provide his team a focal point up front after his choice to start without a known striker did not succeed.

The German winners appeared a team depleted by their record run across three competitions, though, so the harm was already done.

After the interval, Atalanta were content to absorb the pressure from Leverkusen and launch a counteroffensive.

Lookman delivered another amazing finish as he blasted into the top corner with his weaker left foot after scuttling past Edmond Tapsoba.

Under Gasperini, Atalanta had lost every one of their previous three finals, most recently against Juventus in the Coppa Italia last week.

But this time the hundreds of people dressed in blue and black who had travelled from northern Italy to the Irish capital were not going to let them miss their opportunity at history as they were yelled across the finish line.

By doing so, they became the first Italian team to win the competition since Parma won the UEFA Cup in 1999.

Photo by EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

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In the first leg, on a wild evening in the capital of the Czech Republic, the Reds showed their ruthlessness by shutting out the home crowd with three goals before halftime.

Alexis Mac Allister’s penalty kick in the sixth minute gave them the lead after Asger Sorensen had fouled the Argentina World Cup winner.

Darwin Nunez’s stunning dipping finish from beyond the penalty area increased the advantage, marking Liverpool’s 1,000th goal under manager Jurgen Klopp. However, in first-half added time, the Uruguayan forward scored his 16th club goal of the year with a hard effort from the edge of the box, making it 3-0.

Liverpool was grateful for Caoimhin Kelleher, who again demonstrated his value to the squad in the absence of injured first-choice keeper Alisson, despite the comfortable margin.

A series of significant stops were made by Kelleher, one of which came at the 1-0 mark when he deflected Lukas Haraslin’s attempt, causing it to spiral towards the net before Joe Gomez hooked it off the line.

Conor Bradley, a Reds substitute, scored an own goal with his first touch in the 46th minute while attempting to clear the ball for Sparta Prague. However, seven minutes later, Luis Diaz restored his team’s three-goal lead with a deflected finish.

Dominik Szoboszlai, a substitute, scored the fifth goal almost at the very end.

When the clubs play their second leg at Anfield on March 14, Liverpool, who saw Mohamed Salah return from a hamstring injury as a 74th-minute replacement and had a goal disallowed for offside, will be confident of making it to the quarterfinals.

Prior to that, Klopp’s team plays a first-versus-second match at Anfield against the reigning champions, Manchester City.

Whether Ibrahima Konate, who has been playing well lately, will play is still up in the air. Gomez did not appear for the second half, and the France defender was substituted shortly after sustaining an injury during the second half.

Photo by EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK

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It’s the Seagulls’ first time playing at this level of football, and they lost their first game in Group B at home to AEK Athens. They then tied at Marseille.

But on a famous night at Amex Stadium, they beat European veterans Ajax thanks to goals from Joao Pedro and Ansu Fati.

Bob de Zerbi, Brighton’s manager, told TNT Sports, “We got our first win in Europe.”

“It is a great day for our fans, our club, our owner and we are very proud to give them this day.”

Just before halftime, Pedro scored his fourth goal in the Europa League by driving in a loose ball after Kaoru Mitoma’s great shot was saved by Diant Ramaj in goal for Ajax.

After the break, things got even better when Brighton scored a beautiful second goal. Simon Adingra played a beautiful pass to Fati, who took two touches inside the box and then put the ball into the corner of the net.

As Steven Berghuis hit the post for Ajax, he reminded Brighton not to let their guard down. It was one of the visitors’ few chances, though, as the Seagulls won easily in the end.

Fans of Brighton will always remember these times.

In 1994–95, Ajax won their fourth European Cup. At the same time, Brighton had just finished their 16th season in the third level of English football.

The fact that the Seagulls are playing such famous teams at a tough time in their history shows how far they’ve come in recent years. On Thursday, the stadium was packed with fans for what was without a doubt the hottest ticket in town.

Fans were told to wave their scarves in the air before the game, which made for a great atmosphere. But once the game started, they had to be patient.

Ajax, who are second-to-last in the Eredivisie after having the worst start to a season in their history, sat deep to make their opponents frustrated. It almost worked until Mitoma’s magic moment gave them the lead.

Brighton got past the crowded defence before the Japanese forward cut inside and hit a hard shot that was blocked and went in for Pedro to score.

The home team became more confident after that, and Fati’s great goal in the second half gave Brighton fans reason to be proud of this historic moment.

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The home team quickly took the lead at Anfield when Diogo Jota skipped past a few defenders and put the ball in the back of the net in the ninth minute.

To make things even, Toulouse sent on Thijs Dallinga, who was set up by Trent Alexander-Arnold and scored after a 40-yard run.

But stand-in captain Alexander-Arnold quickly made up for it by crossing the ball for Wataru Endo to score his first goal for Liverpool in the 30th minute. Darwin Nunez then scored a third goal to put the Reds ahead 3-1 at halftime.

Around the middle of the second half, Nunez slid past Guillaume Restes, the Toulouse custodian, but hit the post. He was lucky that Ryan Gravenberch scored a fourth goal from the rebound.

In the end, Liverpool easily won because Mohamed Salah scored a fifth goal in stoppage time, coolly putting in a shot from close range that hit the crossbar. It was his ninth goal of the season.

With the win, Liverpool stayed on top of Group E with nine points after three games. Toulouse fell to third place, five points behind the Reds.

It’s clear that Liverpool is focused on their league season; the Reds are only three points behind the leaders.

After the win over Everton, Jurgen Klopp made eight changes to the team that will play Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Sunday.

Even so, his second team was still precise, intense, and clearly better than the French Cup winners. Midfielders Endo and Gravenberch stood out as especially good.

Luke Chambers, a teenager, made his first start, and Callum Scanlon and James McConnell, two substitutes, played their first games. Cody Gakpo came off the bench halfway through the second half to play again after being out for a month.

Liverpool had a lot of chances, but they left holes at the back, and they almost gave up right away after the break when keeper Caoimhin Kelleher lost the ball. Gabriel Suazo of Toulouse had a shot, but Alexander-Arnold blocked it on the line.

The Reds were entertaining throughout their win, though, and if they beat Toulouse in their next Europa League game in two weeks, they will be in the knockout stages with two games to spare.

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The Seagulls were looking to rebound from a 6-1 loss to Aston Villa in the Premier League on Saturday.

Former Newcastle defender Chancel Mbemba swept in to give them a mountain to climb before Jordan Veretout capitalised on a mistake by Brighton captain Lewis Dunk to add a second moments later.

Soon after, Brighton thought they were awarded a penalty by the video assistant referee (VAR), with the referee appearing to point to the spot after consulting the pitchside monitor, but Marseille was awarded a free-kick for a foul.

The visitors overcame that setback to score early in the second half when Pascal Gross drove in from a Kaoru Mitoma cutback, before Pedro kept his cool to complete the impressive comeback.

After giving up two quick goals, a point appeared improbable for Brighton, who were far from their best in the first 45 minutes.

They struggled to play their usual free-flowing football and were making defensive errors, with Mbemba given far too much space for the opener before Dunk’s uncharacteristic lapse in concentration.

When VAR confusion led to Brighton not receiving a penalty they thought they had been awarded before the break, it appeared that their night was over.

However, Roberto de Zerbi’s side came out much improved for the second half, attacking with pace and directness that Marseille struggled to deal with.

When Tariq Lamptey was brought down inside the box after Gross’ goal, Pedro stepped up to score his third goal in Europe.

There are still defensive concerns for Brighton, who have conceded 20 goals in 10 games this season in all competitions, but they will rightly celebrate this historic point.

With Brighton trailing 2-0 at the break, De Zerbi could have been forgiven for fearing a repeat of the Villa game, but his team responded admirably.

“I’m really proud of the performance today, of the players,” he said.

“After the defeat 6-1 at Villa Park and the second goal to close the first half at 2-0, this reaction is incredible. For it I am very happy.

“It’s important playing with heart, passion and the right behaviour.”

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Lucas Paqueta made the most of a well-timed cross by Jarrod Bowen to put the Irons ahead.

West Ham were stunned after dominating the first half when Roland Sallai equalised from close range shortly after the restart.

Nayef Aguerd, on the other hand, nodded a James Ward-Prowse corner past Noah Atubolu to secure the victory.

The London club set a new record by becoming the first English team to go 17 games without losing in European competition.

Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team, Don Revie’s Leeds team in the 1960s, and Bill Nicholson’s Tottenham team in the 1970s all went 16 games unbeaten.

West Ham were particularly dangerous on the break in the first half, with Bowen and Mohammed Kudus causing problems for the Freiburg defence.

Before the break, David Moyes’ men limited Freiburg to just one shot on goal, a tame effort that was easily saved by Lukasz Fabianski.

Freiburg were unsettled and struggled to deal with West Ham’s pressure, but they managed to stay in the game despite the visitors’ slim lead.

When Sallai equalised past Fabianski, the game’s momentum shifted, and Lucas Holer should have put Freiburg ahead when he blasted over the bar from six yards.

West Ham were relieved when Atubolu’s careless positioning allowed Aguerd to meet Ward-Prowse’s corner and reclaim the lead, the decisive goal coming against the run of play.

West Ham leads Group A with six points after defeating Backa Topola in their first Europa League game. Freiburg is three points behind in second place.

“It wasn’t one of our best performances and it was a tough game for us tonight,” Ward-Prowse told the Uefa website.

“We now have six points from two games and that’s of course a very good start.”

The former Southampton midfielder also discussed how the hosts improved in the second half and how West Ham’s winning goal came from an unexpected source.

He said: “They switched a few things around at half-time, played with a clear number 10 then, which caused us to have to adjust our midfield several times.

“We weren’t briefed on them having problems in the air, quite the contrary, we expected them to be strong in set-pieces, so it was especially nice to score from a corner.”

It didn’t take long for the hosts to crumble in the face of West Ham’s attacking ferocity, and the Premier League club should have scored more goals in the first half.

Freiburg custodian Atubolu spilled an easy cross against the post, and Paqueta was flagged offside.

West Ham currently sit seventh in the English Premier League and made several changes from the team that defeated Sheffield United at the weekend.

They were without striker Michail Antonio, who was out with a strained adductor muscle.

Kudus, who scored twice against Backa Topola, made an unusual start, linking play and injecting pace into the visitors’ attacking efforts.

Despite creating chances, the visitors struggled in the final third, with the exception of Paqueta’s opener.

Ward-Prowse could only muster a tame shot when put through on goal on the stroke of half-time, one of the visitors’ better chances.

It appeared that West Ham’s lack of a clinical finish would come back to haunt them, but they adapted to the hosts’ improvements and regained control.

West Ham were better organised after Aguerd’s goal and controlled possession well to prevent a second Freiburg comeback.

On Sunday, Moyes’ side will face eighth-placed Newcastle United in the Premier League.

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The summer signing scored just before halftime, after Anthony Moris parried Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot.

That goal provided a spark in an otherwise dull first half at Anfield, with few chances.

Darwin Nunez wasted a good chance when he prodded wide from Mohamed Salah’s cross, while Gustaf Nilsson scored for the visitors from close range.

Moris pushed Gravenberch’s dipping effort behind just after the hour mark, denying him a second.

The Belgians applied late pressure, but Liverpool sealed the victory when Diogo Jota scored after a quick break.

Liverpool’s performance was not memorable, but after the video assistant referee controversy that followed Saturday’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham, it was a routine and incident-free win.

With six points from two games, Liverpool leads Group E.

“Job done,” said manager Jurgen Klopp.

“You cannot only win if you are really exciting. It is good for us as we can learn a lot from this game.

“With rhythm we look one way and without we look another. With exactly the same players. Plenty of things to learn and we will use that.”

Gravenberch, a 21-year-old Dutch midfielder, arrived from Bayern Munich but has had to wait for his chance to shine.

His Premier League appearances have been from the bench, with his two previous starts coming in the Europa League and League Cup.

Gravenberch, on the other hand, put in an all-action performance, making tackles, creating chances, and scoring the game’s first goal.

He has a goal and two assists in three starts, a performance that will likely push him closer to a starting spot in the Premier League.

“It’s great,” Gravenberch told TNT Sports. “It feels super good. It was the best goal of my career so far.

“It doesn’t matter [how it comes]. A goal is a goal.”

This was not a memorable match, and there was a collective sigh of relief around the stadium when Jota scored to avoid any late drama.

The game, however, will live on in the Mac Allister family’s memory.

Alexis, a Liverpool midfielder, came on at halftime, which meant he faced his brother Kevin, who started the game as a defender for Union SG for the first time in his career.

While Alexis claimed the bragging rights with Liverpool’s victory, Kevin put in a solid performance, helping to frustrate the hosts for long stretches.

“Today my dad was here, but I am sure everybody in our family was watching the TV, so it was special,” Alexis said.

“My dad played and knows what it means to play your brother as my uncle was too. I guess he cried a little bit.”

Kevin said: “He [Alexis] is the reason I suffer today but it is a very special moment.

“Liverpool in the last match come to Belgium. It is our revenge maybe, but today I am only thinking in this game with Alexis and my family and now it is the best part of the match.”

Photo by EPA/PETER POWELL

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Klopp changed his whole team for the first game of the Europa League group stage, which was away against LASK. Even though Liverpool fell behind, they came back to win 3-1.

That win broke a tie for most European wins with Rafa Benitez, who won 49 games between 2004 and 2010 and, like Klopp, led the club to a Champions League title.

With the win, Liverpool moved to the top of Group E, which includes Union Saint-Gilloise and Toulouse, who tied on Thursday.

“Let me say it like this, if I still have 50 after the group stage, then even if I’ve still got the most wins in Europe as a Liverpool manager then everybody will hate that,” he said.

“It’s nice,” he added. “We have played a lot of games in Europe, but it is good we have won that many and we have frequently qualified for finals.”

“It’s great, but probably because the competition now has so many more games than in the past.”

Bob Paisley won three European Cups with Liverpool. He won 39 of Liverpool’s 61 European games. His legendary predecessor, Bill Shankly, won 34 of 65 games and led the club to its first European trophy, the UEFA Cup, in 1973.

Klopp’s 82nd European game at the club was on Thursday night. In 1985, Benitez ran the club.

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