Despite Ruben Amorim taking charge of United, there hasn’t been any significant progress with the team failing to win two successive matches in the Premier League. Tottenham, on other hand, ravaged by injuries have been sliding right through and are looking to end their long trophy drought.

As the two clubs gear up for the clash at Bilbao, Ferdinand reckoned Tottenham’s physicality could end up causing problems for United. “The worrying thing for me from a Man United perspective is that I’ve always said it, I’ve said it on my podcast for the last couple of months, physically we can’t keep up with any team in the Premier League. If they go man to man and go toe-to-toe with us, we’re at a disadvantage because our profile of our players at Man United are not players that can run as hard and as fast, and as long, and they’re not as powerful as other teams,” the Manchester United player said on TalkSport.

In a season where United have looked out of depth in the Premier League, at Europa, they have been able to cause all sorts of problems for the opposition with this swift movement. “That’s a big thing in the Premier League. In the Europa, we’re overpowering every team. There’s only one team I’ve watched us play against in the Europa League that we struggled against and thought, ‘Ooh, that was a bit too close for comfort.’ Rangers, who are more akin to a Premier League side, physically. So that’s the concern for me in the final playing against a Premier League team, who have beaten us three times, that physically can, minimum, match us.”

United have already won the Europa League once, with the sole victory coming in the 2016/17 season under Jose Mourinho. Though they continue to struggle in the league if they win the final, it would be their third trophy in as many years, having won FA Cup and the League Cup. Spurs are bidding to end their 17-year wait for major silverware having been runners-up in various seasons.