The Football Insider With Mikael Silvestre: Europe Set For Two Memorable Nights

This week I wanted to turn my attention to Europe and my former club Manchester United reaching the final of the Europa League.

They did it in style and quite rightly the club and the supporters are excited at the prospect of adding more silverware to the trophy cabinet at Old Trafford.

But let's not pretend this is something that it isn't. This is a single trophy that in the past United would not have seen as a major success.

A win over Spurs later this month will give everyone associated with United a massive lift – but it needs to be looked at in perspective and an understanding there is a lot wrong at the club that needs fixing.

United are stuck near the bottom of the league and it's lucky there are some poor teams down there or they could be even lower. They have been terrible at times this season and almost nobody fears going to Old Trafford now.

What truly great teams have is consistency and the only way to get that is by having a squad full of top professionals who train hard and go out onto the pitch for games with an iron will to win and a positive attitude.

Sadly, United are nowhere near that and my hope is that this trophy simply gives the manager breathing space to get things right and that from a financial point of view they can move out the players who are not up to standard and bring in those that are.

It is very hard to pick a winner of this game – both teams have had poor seasons and although injuries have played a part in that nobody at either club can pretend things have gone well.

What is exciting is that an all-English final should produce a great contest with goals and drama.

Moving over to the Champions League we have a final on the horizon that not many would have predicted at the start of the season or, to be honest, at the semifinal stage.

There is not that much attention on football in France outside of the country, but PSG has made the domestic season look easy – and they have done that against some very good teams such as Lyon.

That form has played out in Europe, and this is a massively talented group of relatively young players who are being guided by a smart coach.

Someone like Bradley Barcola sums up the side perfectly as he is a not a global superstar but goes about his work brilliantly and with true freedom and flair.

PSG getting to the final is great for French football and I can see them bringing the trophy back to Paris.

But, of course, as we saw in the semifinal Inter have a never say die attitude that is unmatched in Europe, and they will fight right to the end to secure a win or take the game deep into extra time and possibly penalties.

So, there you have it, two intriguing European finals that will have me watching with interest for different reasons – but I can say with confidence they promise two memorable nights of football.

(Former French defender Mikael Silvestre won five Premier League titles with Manchester United. He was also part of the United team that won the 2008 Champions League title)

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