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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Guardian sport

What are the worst European football finals … based on league position?

Espanyol v Bayer Leverkusen in the 1988 Uefa Cup final
Espanyol finished 15th in La Liga when they took on Bundesliga’s eighth-placed Bayer Leverkusen in the 1988 Uefa Cup final. Photograph: Bob Thomas/Bob Thomas Sports Photography/Getty Images

“In terms of aggregate league position, will Tottenham v Manchester United be the worst European final ever?” asks Phil Taylor (and dozens of others).

Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, who meet in Bilbao tonight, put all their eggs in the Europa League basket sometime before the clocks went back. They are 17th and 16th in the Premier League respectively, giving them an aggregate position of 33. It is, to take a couple of unashamedly gratuitous examples, equivalent to Oldham Athletic playing Southampton in the Uefa Cup final of 1992, or Sabadell meeting Racing Santander in the same competition in 1987.

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