TOTTENHAM’S heroes were hurting on the road to their first trophy in 17 long painful years.
Mocked, doubted, and labelled bottlers for too long, the Spurs squad had seen it all.
But once they sniffed a real shot at silverware, they made a vow to change the narrative.
But make no mistake, this wasn’t about sacrificing the Premier League form for a taste of glory in Europe.
The Lilywhites slumped to a dismal 17th in the Prem meaning lifting their first European trophy in 41 years was not going to be enough to save Ange Postecoglou’s job.
But midfield dynamo Pape Sarr, who started in that magical night in Bilbao before being subbed off in stoppage time, revealed how deeply the league form cut and just how much that Europa League meant.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, the Tottenham star said: “Everyone thinks we sacrificed the league for the Europa League but believe me, we wanted to be good in the league too.
“We were hurting when we lost games, it had nothing to do with playing in Europe.
“Everyone gave everything to change our league form but if I’m honest, we just weren’t good enough in the league.
“But winning the Europa League, that was really something special.”
Sarr is the latest success story from Spurs’ long-term model, following in the footsteps of Dele Alli, who arrived from MK Dons for peanuts and became a Premier League superstar.
The North London club took a gamble signing him from Metz and now he’s bossing it in midfield and forever etched in club folklore for that historic win in Bilbao.
And when he speaks, you feel the fire, you feel the passion and you see what it means to him.
Sarr is eager to speak about the Europa League final even before he’s asked about it again.
He recalls memories from that night in Bilbao: “It was the greatest night of my life.
“When I turned my back to the game at the end, I was just praying. Thinking about how hard the season was for all of us, for the fans, and for our families.
Everyone gave everything to change our league form but if I’m honest, we just weren’t good enough in the league.
Pape Matar Sarr
“The road to the final. The people who doubted us, the injuries, the meetings,the belief we built. To do it together was just amazing.
“Those emotions, seeing everyone, the people you grind with every day, finally get their reward. That’s why we play football.”
The scenes after were wild, Spurs threw a massive parade in between their final league games, they knew what that trophy meant to their long-suffering supporters.
The club flipped the script. No more “Spursy.” No more jokes, just the glory that comes with daring.
Tottenham ratings: Bissouma dominates Europa League final as occasion gets to Udogie
BRENNAN JOHNSON was Tottenham’s hero as they finally ended their 17-year trophy drought in the Europa League final.
Despite being without James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski for the clash in Bilbao, Spurs came up with a massive win against Manchester United.
Johnson scored the goal as he helped bundle in from a corner in a tussle with Luke Shaw to send fans into dreamland.
But Spurs also owe a huge thanks to Yves Bissouma who was totally dominant in midfield.
At the other end, Destiny Udogie struggled to get up to the pace of the match as he was up against Manchester United’s Amad Diallo.
Spurs had just three shots, only 27 per cent of the ball, and completed a mere 115 passes over 90 minutes.
But it didn’t matter, as United never really looked like finding a leveller to take it to extra time.
SunSport’s Henry Tomlinson gave his ratings for the Tottenham players…
But Sarr insists the job isn’t done. “We’ve only won one trophy so I won’t say we’ve changed anything yet. What we want now is to win again this season.
“Tottenham is massive. We’re one of the top 15 clubs in the world, we’ve got to build a winning culture and keep going.
“Last season was special, but why not go and win more?.”
Winning creates a certain level of expectation.
The triumph in Bilbao means Champions League football is back in North London.
Those emotions, seeing everyone, the people you grind with every day, finally get their reward. That’s why we play football.
Pape Matar Sarr
That means bigger nights, bigger names, and bigger expectations, but Sarr says another domestic disaster is not an option and European experience should not be an excuse.
He added: “If you win a trophy, it’s always amazing, even if you’ve done it before, it’s still special. So imagine winning it for the first time.
“The dressing room that night in Bilbao was buzzing but we all immediately knew we had to build on it and fix what went wrong.”
One man who’s guided this new Spurs spirit is captain Son Heung-min, whose future hangs in the balance, just the mention of Son’s name brought a smile to Sarr’s face.
He doesn’t let me finish the question before jumping in:“Listen, Sonny is like Mr Nice! Everyone who joins the club, he’s there helping you.
“But for me? He’s the best person I’ve met in my career. From day one, the amount of help he’s given me has been unbelievable.
“He asks me about my holidays, checks in on what I’ve been doing — all just to understand me better and help me improve.
“And yeah, Bissouma too, he brings energy, good vibes but Sonny? He helps all of us. A true captain.”
Now Sarr is ready for the next chapter under new gaffer Thomas Frank, who replaces Postecoglou and takes charge of a squad desperate to go one better.
A clean slate, a new challenge but the same dream.
He concluded: “I’m looking forward to going back to work, meeting the new manager and my teammates.
“And hopefully, we can do something really special things together.”
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