How do you prepare for a cup final of this magnitude?

Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are astir to look each different successful a £100m sliding-doors Europa League last successful Bilbao.

They are presently 16th and 17th successful the Premier League, straight supra the relegation places. Between them, they person mislaid an unthinkable 39 times successful the league this season.

But Bilbao brings a changeable astatine redemption.

For Spurs, it would mean a archetypal trophy since the 2008 League Cup. United, meanwhile, are aiming for their archetypal European trophy since their Europa League triumph successful 2017. For the fans it is huge.

But for the radical moving the respective clubs it is bigger. The prize for triumph is simply a spot successful adjacent season's Champions League. At a blimpish estimate, it would make a £100m summation successful revenue.

The unit astatine the San Mames stadium volition beryllium immense.

How are Ange Postecoglou and Ruben Amorim preparing for it? And what does it consciousness similar to play successful a crippled of this magnitude?

There has been a divergence successful approach. For a start, erstwhile they played their past lucifer earlier the last wrong 45 minutes of each different connected Friday, the respective managers opted for precise antithetic strategies.

Postecoglou played a wholly antithetic squad astatine Aston Villa compared to the 1 that bushed Bodo/Glimt successful the 2nd limb of their semi-final. He near cardinal centre-backs Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero retired of the squad entirely.

"I don't recognize wherefore they are gripped by fear, some managers volition privation to spell into the cupful last with momentum," said ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton.

"It's conscionable that enactment fearfulness wherever Postecoglou won't play Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven - but volition they beryllium undercooked?"

Amorim went strong. Even pursuing the instrumentality to grooming of Diogo Dalot, Joshua Zirkzee and Leny Yoro connected Tuesday, different than Mason Mount and speculation astir striker Rasmus Hojlund, it felt precise overmuch similar the squad who volition commencement the final.

"I don't cognize the discourse of Tottenham. What I cognize is the past crippled against Bilbao, we had that crippled and past we rested immoderate players due to the fact that we were acrophobic of immoderate injuries," said Amorim.

"Then we had a afloat week to hole for the crippled and I felt, with 5 days to the final, the champion happening to hole for the last was to springiness clip to the players - the champion mode to hole thing is to compete."

Tottenham held a squad barbecue astatine their Hotspur Way grooming crushed astatine the weekend, which Postecoglou says was player-driven, earlier arriving successful Bilbao connected Monday afternoon, taking up residence successful a edifice close successful the bosom of the city.

"It was precise important, being together, talking astir life," said skipper Son Heung-min. "It feels similar we are getting adjacent closer."

"This bonding acquisition is precise important," added right-back Pedro Porro. "The squad is similar our family. It's precise bully to speech astir beingness with our team-mates, too."

United arrived a time aboriginal and opted to enactment somewhat further distant from the stadium - lone 3 miles, truthful not precisely a agelong journey.

United besides decided against taking up the enactment of a last grooming league successful the lucifer stadium. Most clubs these days don't bid successful the matchday venue earlier European games.

The benefits of this are twofold. Firstly, it is acold easier to support their ain grooming grounds unafraid and halt the absorption spying connected them. Secondly, determination is familiarity and easiness of entree to equipment, specified arsenic drones, that are present a captious portion of squad preparation.

In each likelihood, Tottenham won't bash thing of enactment successful their last league astatine the San Mames stadium. But it volition let them to get the consciousness of the iconic ground.

United volition bash a locomotion circular instead. In fairness, it is lone 3 weeks since they bushed Athletic Club 3-0 determination successful the archetypal limb of their semi-final, truthful the request to get accustomed to their surroundings is not the same.

"As the players we conscionable deliberation astir what we person up of us, and what we person up of america is the accidental to get our hands connected a trophy," explained United skipper Bruno Fernandes.

Team meetings and rest, interspersed with a lunchtime stroll, are the recognised ways of passing the clip until it comes to leaving for the stadium connected lucifer night, arriving astir 90 minutes earlier kick-off.

It is that constituent astatine which cardinal figures successful the dressing country measurement up.

Gary Pallister, a subordinate of the United squad which bushed Crystal Palace successful the 1990 FA Cup last to unafraid the archetypal - and astir pivotal - trophy of Sir Alex Ferguson's Old Trafford vocation - remembers the power skipper Bryan Robson had successful those moments.

"When Robbo was there, we were a antithetic team," said Pallister. "He was injured truthful often that season. But erstwhile helium played, you could astir consciousness it successful the dressing country 'Robbo's here, everything volition beryllium OK. He volition benignant it out'.

"We were a squad that relied connected that. Over time, we had to larn to play without him but astatine that point, erstwhile helium was retired of the team, I felt we were a spot rudderless.

"He had played successful 2 finals by then, whereas for me, I was going retired to play successful the biggest lucifer [of the year], the crippled we grew up with arsenic kids, the astir peculiar time of the year.

"I was reasoning astir my parents successful the crowd, your friends and family, the 'Oh my God, I americium playing unrecorded successful beforehand of the full nation'. That brings its ain nervousness.

"But that time astatine Wembley, Robbo was specified a calming influence. He spoke to america and settled america down, connected and disconnected the pitch."

Lilian Thuram was a cardinal subordinate of France's 1998 World Cup-winning side, helping the hosts bushed Brazil 3-0 successful the last successful Paris - a crippled that was preceded by rumours that the visitors' prima antheral Ronaldo would miss out.

"We were each convinced it was a ploy by the Brazilians to marque america judge that Ronaldo wouldn't beryllium capable to play," said Thuram. "We thought 'no way, Ronaldo is playing the match, they are conscionable making this up to effort and fool us'.

"During the lucifer you are truthful wholly focused connected the task successful hand, you are not truly alert whether a subordinate is astatine their apical level oregon not. You can't interest astir whether Ronaldo is disconnected today."

Despite suffering from a convulsion hours earlier the final. Ronaldo did play, but France overcame their pre-tournament doubters to prevail arsenic satellite champions for the archetypal time.

"There were an atrocious batch of top-level players who had played a batch of finals, we knew if you wanted to triumph you needed to artifact retired the sound and play astir it and hole for the lucifer that was coming," added Thuram.

"It was a imagination lucifer for the players, a imagination lucifer for the public, this truly focused minds. It was a large occasion, but we had nary uncertainty we were going to triumph that final."

The prize for Spurs and United, arsenic outlined, is simply a large 1 - the quality betwixt occurrence and nonaccomplishment is huge.

"I can't deliberation of 1 successful caller seasons wherever the extremes are truthful polar opposite," said Sutton, a Premier League victor with Blackburn.

"That truly adds to the juncture and the pressure. I can't retrieve a crippled which was truthful highly pressurised for some teams."

On Saturday, Crystal Palace bushed Manchester City to triumph the FA Cup - it had taken 35 years to get their hands connected the trophy aft missing retired successful 1990. For United, it was the commencement of thing big.

Even though their lone important summation successful that summertime was Denis Irwin, with a teenage Lee Sharpe besides starting to emerge, United were a antithetic squad from past on.

They finished sixth successful the league successful 1991 and won the European Cup Winners' Cup, beating a Barcelona broadside who would spell connected to triumph the European Cup the pursuing year.

And aft blowing the contention for the league rubric 1992, they yet won it successful 1993.

Something unquantifiable happened successful 1990 that went acold beyond winning a azygous match.

"Even earlier the last successful 1990, the gaffer utilized to accidental 'winning a trophy volition springiness you a kick-start'," said Pallister. "I americium guessing that was from his Aberdeen days arsenic they progressed and broke the Old Firm [Celtic and Rangers].

"The FA Cup was monolithic backmost then. Winning it gives the dressing country specified a boost. It gives you content you tin win. Once you had that, it gave you the momentum to spell into the pursuing season.

"From that, we bushed Barcelona. It gave america the certainty we could get amended and we could propulsion on. That is what we did."

France's World Cup triumph successful 1998, meanwhile, not lone acceptable the level for European Championship occurrence 2 years later, but the diverse, multi-cultural Les Bleus squad agreed a state that was conflicted implicit issues of migration and discrimination.

"Those memories volition beryllium with maine forever," said Thuram. "All of the antithetic radical of France who came retired to observe that team, it is thing that keeps maine going - that determination was a large radical of radical wrong the state that believed successful that squad and what it represented.

"That triumph successful 1998 helped to springiness radical greater courageousness and that tendency to talk retired astir equality and injustice, and to request greater equality."

For Tottenham oregon Manchester United, a doorway to creating their ain bequest is astir to open. No-one tin beryllium definite wherever it volition lead.