WORDS Michael Harrold

“Spurs are on their way to Bilbao! Tottenham’s gonna do it again,” roared the fans after Dominic Solanke rolled in a penalty to put the home side 3-0 up against Bodø/Glimt in the first leg of their semi-final. The raucous atmosphere inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium felt like catharsis – as a difficult season neared its climax, the Europa League was a providing a shot at redemption.

But nothing has come easy for Spurs this term and, just when it seemed they had one foot in the final, Ulrik Saltnes finished off a neat Bodø/Glimt attack to give the Norwegian side hope, suggesting the second-leg trip to the Arctic Circle might not be so straightforward after all. Spurs were on a run of just three wins in ten games and had slipped to 16th in the Premier League. They couldn’t let this slip, surely? ‘No’ was the emphatic response as they controlled the return, where goals from Solanke and Pedro Porro confirmed that Ange Postecoglou’s team were indeed on their way to the Basque Country.

There was joy at the final whistle as the players celebrated with their 500-strong travelling support inside Aspmyra Stadion. Here at last, on this dark, wet evening in the far north of Norway, was a bright spark to light up a challenging campaign. After all those fans had endured, Spurs were through to their sixth European final and in with a chance of winning their first trophy in 17 years.

To read this full story, plus big interviews with Dominic Solanke, Ange Postecoglou and lots more – get your copy of the official 2025 UEFA Europa League final programme here.