Supercomputer predicts surprise Europa League winner after Man Utd & Tottenham battle through | OneFootball

In the first season which has seen Champions League sides no longer drop into the Europa League, European football's second-tier club competition boasts a lofty roll call of semi-finalists.

Despite their domestic struggles, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur remain undisputed Premier League giants, while Athletic Club are one of three sides never to have been relegated from La Liga along with Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Bodo/Glimt offer the sole point of contrast. The lateral thinkers from inside the Arctic Circle are hardly historic powerhouses in the context of Norwegian football, let alone the rest of the continent. As has been repeatedly pointed out ahead of the Europa League's conclusion, the entire population of Bodo (53,259) could fit inside each stadium of the competition's three other semi-finalists.

Yet, in the context of a game indelibly bound to the fickle fates of simple fortune, anything could happen. Opta's supercomputer has drawn upon all available data to offer a slightly clearer insight into what is most likely to occur.

Opta supercomputer's 2024/25 Europa League favourites after chaotic quarter-finals

Cristian Romero led the celebrations for Tottenham against Eintracht Frankfurt / KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/GettyImages

"Is Manchester United's name on that trophy?" Rio Ferdinand asked himself once he had begun to calm down in the aftermath of a bonkers 5-4 victory over Lyon on Thursday night. "After today, it's hard to argue against that." Opta's supercomputer would disagree.

United are deemed to be only third-favourites to lift the trophy this May. Athletic are given a marginally better chance of prevailing while this ramshackle iteration of Spurs have emerged as shock favourites.

The leading theory held that Ange Postecoglou was on the brink of the sack before his Tottenham side travelled to the intimidating surrounds of Eintracht Frankfurt's Deutsche Bank Park. Stripped of their captain Son Heung-min, Spurs valiantly battled out a 1-0 win to set up a semi-final against Bodo/Glimt.

Kjetil Knutsen's Norwegian upstarts managed to lose, draw and win against Lazio in a breathless quarter-final second leg in Rome. Tijjani Noslin's 93rd-minute effort earned the Italian outfit a 2-0 win on the night to match the score of Bodo's home victory in the first leg. Boulaye Dia had the hosts in front in extra time before Andreas Helmersen's header forced a penalty shootout which his side claimed.

"I don't believe in miracles, I believe in our journey," Knutsen exhaled at the end of a night to savour. "Today, the magic was with us." Based upon Opta's predictions, it will take some more sorcery against Spurs to send Bodo/Glimt through to the club's first ever European final.