Spurs Star Warns United Ahead Of Europa League final: “No fear”

Tottenham Hotspur will face Manchester United in the Europa League final on May 18 as they look to end their 17-year wait for a trophy, and Micky van de Ven has promised they will show no fear

Micky van de Ven is acutely aware that only Europa League success in Bilbao will define Tottenham’s season as a success, yet he assures that the team will face Manchester United in the all-English final without any trepidation.

Spurs secured their spot in the final with a solid 2-0 victory over Bodo/Glimt on Thursday, culminating in a dominant 5-1 aggregate win in what turned out to be an unbalanced semi-final encounter.

Amid a spell of underwhelming Premier League performances, manager Ange Postecoglou has come under intense scrutiny and faced a barrage of criticism. However, Tottenham now stand on the brink of clinching their first piece of silverware in 17 years after another commanding performance in the knockout stages.

However, United have carved their path to the final with two impressive victories against Athletic Bilbao and carry a reputation for recent cup success.

Despite this, and even with key players such as James Maddison, Lucas Bergvall, and captain Son Heung-min sidelined due to injuries, Postecoglou’s squad has already beaten United three times this season, instilling confidence in Van de Ven.

“To be in a European final with Tottenham is a big thing for the fans and the club. For me personally, I’m really proud to be part of it,” Van de Ven told PA Sport.

“Everything can happen in a final but we’re not going there with fear. Of course we know our qualities, we know it’s going to be a difficult game, Man United showed their quality in this European campaign.

“Everybody goes to Bilbao to win a trophy. It has been a tough season and it will only be successful if we win the Europa League and get the trophy.”

Van de Ven’s season has been marred by frustration, with a hamstring injury in October followed by further complications in December and January, keeping him out of action for a total of four months.

His fellow centre-back Cristian Romero also spent a significant period on the sidelines during the winter, yet the pair have proven to be a solid partnership in matches against AZ Alkmaar, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Bodo.

“Cuti’s an unbelievable player. You can see that mentality wise, with the ball, without the ball, he knows how it is to play these types of games,” Van de Ven added.

“You can see it in how he is. He shows so much to the rest, he helps the whole team. My partnership with Cuti, we feel each other. He knows what to do, I know what to do. We back each other.

“Of course for me personally it’s a tough season. I didn’t play a lot of games, but now I’m going to play a European final, the first final of my career, for me, unbelievable.

“A season with ups and downs and hopefully I can end up with more positive things.

“We’re in a European final, one game away from a trophy and I think the mentality we showed was unbelievable.

“We showed a lot of discipline. Also the Frankfurt away game, we kept a clean sheet and won over there.

“Everybody had doubts when we came over here because Bodo/Glimt was doing unbelievable in their home games in Europe, so we knew from the beginning it was going to be a really tough game but we showed discipline, mentality.

“We did what we needed to do, we got a clean sheet and now we go to Bilbao.”

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