Spurs and Man Utd meet in worst-form European final

Never in the history of European competition has a final been played between two teams so out of form.

The winners of Wednesday's Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham in Bilbao could be the lowest league finishers ever to win a major European trophy.

And they will certainly become the lowest team to ever qualify for the European Cup or Champions League.

United sit in 16th place in the Premier League, with Spurs 17th - and a combined 39 league defeats.

The only league games either have won since 2 February have been against sides who were relegated - or each other.

Their points tally could have had them relegated in some previous seasons.

"I can't remember such a game which was so highly pressurised for both teams," said former Celtic striker Chris Sutton on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

And yet one of them will celebrate glory - and a return to the riches of the Champions League next season.

BBC Sport senior football correspondent Sami Mokbel and chief football news reporter Simon Stone, who will both be at San Mames for the final, have had their say on whose season has been worse.

Mokbel on Spurs: "Underperformed, underachieved, unacceptable. Domestically, at least.

"While Tottenham will cling on to hope of somehow turning a catastrophic season into a historic one, there can be no running away from the fact that results and performances have been largely disastrous.

"Twenty-one defeats in the Premier League and counting. Of course, all that will be forgotten if Spurs lift the Europa League trophy on Wednesday night.

"Whether that is enough to keep Ange Postecoglou in a job, however, is the million-dollar question with all the indications pointing towards the Australian departing regardless of the outcome in Bilbao.

"The fact Postecoglou's tenure in north London looks set to end imminently illustrates just how pitiful their domestic campaign has been.

"In their defence, injuries have debilitated Tottenham's season. They have lost key players for long periods of time.

"But this is an expensively-assembled Tottenham squad - one that includes the club-record £65m signing of Dominic Solanke.

"United are in a season of transition, having changed managers midway through the season.

"It's different for Tottenham. Following Postecoglou's encouraging first season in charge, in which Spurs finished fifth, this was a team set up to compete for Champions League qualification.

"Instead, they could finish one place above the relegation zone. That's undeniably poor."

Stone on United: "Manchester United have been worse because much of the damage has been self-inflicted.

"United were the ones who reflected on Erik ten Hag's tenure, both in the wake of their 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace last May, then after the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City, and decided to stick with him.

"United gave him money to spend, specifically on Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee in the summer, then sacked him after nine games.

"And United told Ruben Amorim he had to start immediately, not wait until the summer to join from Sporting.

"Now, the safety net is Bilbao and then that United hit the ground running at the start of next season, which would justify the refusal to wait for Amorim.

"But, in the here and now, United have been woeful.

"There have been periods in games when they have looked fluid and their passing triangles have worked.

"However, Rasmus Hojlund has not looked a threat at one end of the field and basic mistakes have undermined them at the other.

"With six minutes left of extra time in their Europa League quarter-final against 10-man Lyon, it was not easy to strike a single optimistic note on United's behalf. Somehow, they rescued themselves.

"Since then, United have got one point from five Premier League games. No-one has done worse than that.

"By any measure, this is United's worst season since the 1973-74 relegation campaign. And they announced financial losses of £113.2m last September.

"To spend so much and be so bad really takes some doing."