The road to the Europa League Final, Bilbao, 2025: Tottenham Hotspur – Manchester United 1-0
On May 21, 2025, all roads led to Bilbao for the Europa League final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur. The stakes were huge, a direct place in the Champions League in 2025/2026 and saving a disastrous season.
While some airlines operating direct flights to Bilbao preferred to keep prices high in most hubs, British fans looked for economical options. From the UK, a week before, there was hardly anything under £1000 left. Madrid was stormed from all directions, but especially from Palma de Mallorca. All trains and buses Madrid-Bilbao were fully booked for May 20 and 21.
Stephen (left in the first picture) flew from Edinburgh, where he works, to Palma de Mallorca. From there we went together to Madrid. He bought a ticket on the morning of the match on a Flexibus and slept at the airport, then continued to rest on the journey of at least five and a half hours. He was in Bilbao for the semi-final with Athletic, he would have liked that match to have been the final. United fans felt good in Bilbao.
Rental cars at reasonable prices were also not available anymore. The cheapest accommodation in Bilbao for the night of the final, on Booking, was €230 at a hostel, in an eight-bed room. Otherwise? Over €450, but far from the center. I set up my base in Burgos, 160 km away from Bilbao, where I arrived by car from Madrid!
My journey to Bilbao started from Bucharest via Bergamo, Palma de Mallorca and Madrid
I left Bucharest on the morning of May 20th. A flight that arrived in Bergamo at 7 am. With a 7-hour layover until the next destination, I went out to Città Alta for breakfast, a coffee and a walk. Bergamo is one of my favorite cities, with which I have many beautiful memories.
There is a direct bus from Caravaggio airport to the old town, the trip costs 3 euro and takes 30 minutes if there is no traffic.
Then we boarded the flight to Palma de Mallorca, around 3pm, an airport where we landed 1 hour and 30 minutes later. With the flight from Madrid at 9pm, I went out to visit a friend and meet up with some British friends from Manchester who had chosen the same route to Bilbao.
I returned to the airport around 7:30 PM, and the flight to Madrid took off at 9:30 PM, with a slight delay. On the plane, half of the passengers will be at San Mames in Bilbao the next day for the big Final.
Arriving in Madrid around 10:45 PM, I immediately went to the office of the company I had booked the car from. After the formalities (contract, insurance, etc.), around midnight I set off for Burgos. The road was smooth, I stepped on the accelerator pedal well and at 2 AM I arrived at the hotel. Shower and sleep with a wake-up call at 7:30 AM for breakfast.
In Bilbao, all the large 24-hour parking lots were booked, so I decided to leave early to find the best option. And I found it: a parking lot open until 9:30 PM and after a Basque citizen was willing to host my car until after the match, with the promise that I wouldn’t leave before 2 AM.
Bilbao is a relatively small city, so two nights is plenty of time to explore. The city thrives on tourism. It’s the de facto capital of Basque Country, an industrial port city in northern Spain.
It is relatively easy to get there from all the major nearby cities that have easily accessible airports: 2 hours 50 minutes from Zaragoza, 4 hours 20 minutes from Madrid or the longer 6-hour options from Barcelona and Valencia. There is also an option from France, via Bordeaux, 3 and a half hours (plane to get there and Flexibus, motorways are expensive in France).
I arrived from Madrid via Burgos and Vitoria-Gasteiz, on a route proposed by Google Maps of 4 hours and 27 minutes, with a toll on a small section of 15 km for which I paid 2.7 euro. In Spain, most motorways became free of charge following an ended agreement with the builders, dating back to 1974, which assumed the recovery of the investment in 50 years.
The undisputed symbol of Bilbao is Guggenheim Museum. Opened in 1997 and designed by Frank O. Gehry, the museum houses prominent modern and contemporary works.
Before arriving at the Fan Festival in the city center, near the Arriaga Theater, opened by UEFA especially for the Europa League Final, I took a short tour of the city that passed by the museum, by the Santiago Cathedral, built 600 years ago and which is the most impressive Gothic monument in the Basque Country, and by the Bizkaia Bridge, but not before going to the accreditation center located at San Mames Stadium.
At 12:30 a legends match was played, 5 vs 5, where Răzvan Raț was part of the UEFA legends team that played against the Basque legends, in front of the Arriaga Theater. Raț had teammates Tomasz Kuszczak, Jesús Navas, Steffen Freund, Nani, Dimitar Berbatov and Faouzi Ghoulam. On the other side, the Basque legends presented themselves with Gaizka Toquero, Markel Susaeta, Beñat Etxebarria, Xabi Prieto, Carlos Martínez, Mikel Balenziaga and Gorka Iraizoz.
After finishing this demonstration match, I had a look around the city, I stopped at a restaurant recommended by some friends where I had lunch. The menu of the day, 14.99 euro, two generous dishes (I chose chicken curry with rice and beef with baked potatoes) plus a drink and a coffee. I wanted to leave a tip and was refused, the young lady who was serving returned it running after me outside the restaurant explaining in Spanish that it was not necessary. Strange habit, I thought, I took the 5 euro with gratitude and went on my way.
At five o’clock I moved my car from the paid parking lot to the spot agreed upon with the Basque citizen and moved to the Cathedral of Football, San Mames. After passing through the security filters, I went to pick up my bib and claim my spot in front of the Spurs fans’ lawn.
About the final and the photo gallery, scroll down two times. All the madness, with the ceremony and the delivery of the images ended around 2 AM. With the car luckily parked 7 minutes walk from the stadium, I moved quickly, and at 4:30 I was back at the hotel in Burgos. The plan was to linger in the center of Madrid for a few hours. So, after 5 hours of sleep, a shower and breakfast, I set off for the capital of Spain.
The traffic in Madrid seemed to me the most organized of the big cities I drove through, with underground tunnels under the city that immediately take you in any direction you need. For example, I arrived at the airport without any emotions, in 22 minutes. And I even left exactly 25 minutes before the car was due to be returned.
This time I returned to Bucharest with a direct flight of 3 hours and 5 minutes.
Cost of the trip
Because I have many curious friends and acquaintances and considering that Bilbao and the way there was very expensive from any corner of Europe, we start like this:
- Flight Bucharest – Bergamo – 33 euro
- Public transport Carravagio airport – Bergamo Alta Citta – 6 euro
- Breakfast in Alta Citta (cappuccino, water and pizza) – 9.5 euro
- Flight Bergamo – Palma de Mallorca – 15 euro
- Lunch Palma de Mallorca, burger and ice cream – 16 euro
- Flight Palma de Mallorca – Madrid – 15 euro
- Car rental for 2 days (Seat Leon Cupra 2025) – 88 euro
- Car full insurance for 2 days (for travel I have it included in Revolut Ultra plan) – 54 euro
- A full tank of gas – 67 euro
- 3-star hotel Burgos two nights with breakfast – 104 euro
- Highway – 2.7 euro
- Bilbao parking 7 hours – 11.8 euro
- Lunch Bilbao – 15 euro
- A 1 liter beer at Fan Festival – 10 euro
- Other snacks – 12 euro
- Lunch Madrid – 15 euro
- Parking Madrid (4 hours) – 7 euro
- Two beers at the airport – 10 euro
- Flight Madrid – Bucharest – 110 euro
TOTAL = 601 EURO
About the final and the photo gallery
It has been 17 years since Spurs last won a trophy, the League Cup in 2008, and 41 years since their last European trophy, the UEFA Cup in 1984.
“I usually win a trophy in my second season,” says Ange Postecoglu, who hopes to build on this Europa League success, although his future is still uncertain and there have been no talks with the club about what happens next.
Brennan Johnson’s first-half strike secured Tottenham victory and a place in next year’s Champions League, saving a disastrous season.
The match was lacklustre, with Tottenham pushing hard and United only making a late comeback in the hope of sending the game into extra time. Vicario saved his team on two occasions.
Spurs’ most impatient fans filled the dedicated sections long before United’s fans even showed up. They were also the most vocal, with no pause in their chants and cheers. “We’ve seen it all” was the response from United fans with a giant banner displayed at the start of the match.
Radu Drăgușin, despite being injured in the second half of the season, ticks off his first major trophy.
