Why is Tottenham captain Son Heung Min on the bench for Europa League final?

9 hours ago 2

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Tottenham captain Son Heung Min is only on the bench for the Europa League final against Manchester United.

The Spurs skipper had declared himself “ready to go” for the Bilbao final after recovering from injury but Richarlison starts ahead of him.

Son has played in three finals for Tottenham, including the 2019 Champions League final defeat, and is yet to win a trophy with the club.

The South Korean admitted it might be his “last chance” - but will have to make an impact from the bench if he is to help Tottenham end their 17-year trophy drought.

Ange Postecoglou has ruled that Son is not fully fit for the final, making just one change from the semi-final second leg victory over Bodo/Glimt.

Tottenham were already without James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski and Lucas Bergvall due to injuries picked up before the final.

Postecoglou has started Pape Matar Sarr in midfield alongside Rodrigo Bentancur and Yves Bissouma. Cristian Romero will captain Tottenham from kick-off.

Son has only made one start for Tottenham since 10 April due to a foot injury.

But he had appeared at Tottenham’s pre-match press conference on Thursday and seemed certain to start after playing 73 minutes of the 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Friday.

"I'm ready," Son had said. "Obviously back from injury, it was my first game against Crystal Palace and afterwards I played against Aston Villa.

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"I didn't expect to play that long, but I managed. Physically, I am ready to go. Also, the rest of the boys are ready to go for the biggest game of the season."

Postecoglou was not asked about Son’s absence during his pre-match interview with TNT Sports, but the Australian did explain his midfield selection.

"I feel we're going to need some running power tonight,” Postecoglou said. “It's a kind of game where we're going have to work hard defensively and attackingly.

"United are a tough opponent - there's a couple of key players we need to shutdown."