Tonight's Europa League final in Hamburg features two teams who don't see final action very often; Fulham's last final was the FA Cup in 1975, while Atlético also played in a domestic cup final back in 1996. Indeed, Fulham have never played in a major European final, and while Atlético have played in four European finals the last one was in 1986. As a result most football fans will find it refreshing that tonight's game doesn't feature the usual suspects of European football.
However tonight's game will stand out for much more than that. Typically, any club that reaches a final will enjoy as much animosity as support as their rivals cheer on the opposition. Manchester United fans will certainly not have supported Liverpool in their two Champions' League finals this decade, and by the same token Scousers will have delighted at Barcelona's win last year.
But you would be hard pushed to find any English fans who won't get behind the modest London club tonight; even Chelsea, Fulham's closest rivals, would be delighted for Roy Hodgson's men. At the same time the whole of Spain will be rooting for Atlético. Even Real Madrid fans? As a friend of mine says, "Atlético aren't Real Madrid's rivals, they're the "pupas"; Barcelona are the only rivals in Spain". And most Spanish people recognise that Atlético's fans are the best in Spain.
Whoever wins tonight, a whole country will be delighted. I wonder if the same could have been said of Liverpool and Hamburg?
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