The Ange Postecoglou Spurs show is over. There will not be a season-three sequel for him.
After that famous night in Bilbao, Postecoglou rightly revelled in Tottenham's Europa League success. He had delivered, as promised, in his second season - but this was just the start, he insisted. "We've got a taste of it now. Let's make sure we're back here again."
But Daniel Levy had seen enough.
The chairman who sacked a manager in the week of a cup final has now sacked another in the weeks after winning one. It's a ruthless call to kill off the main character, as Postecoglou put it, but Levy has hit reboot on the franchise once again.
It is a decision which has split the fanbase. Over 70 per cent of respondents to a Sky Sports poll in the wake of the final were of the opinion Postecoglou deserved more time after ending the trophy drought.
Should this not be the time to capitalise on the momentum that victory brings and use the Champions League riches it delivered to upgrade Postecoglou's options in the summer transfer market?
It is easy to imagine the galvanising force the Europa League success, along with the subsequent trophy parade and celebrations could add to the group in pre-season. Confidence and belief had been restored.
But it is clear trust in the Postecoglou project among the Spurs hierarchy was irrevocably eroded even before the squad boarded the plane to northern Spain. He didn't have one game to save his job. The writing was already on the wall.
The Australian may leave with his head held high and his "I'm a winner, mate" statement can't be denied. But for the decision-makers at Spurs - and many of the club's fans - a dramatic season finale didn't make up for flaws in the production.
Spurs' Europa League final opponents Manchester United were fooled last summer when they extended Erik ten Hag's contract, allowing the buzz of that FA Cup win over rivals Manchester City to mask their true status. At Spurs there was clearly a fear of repeating that mistake.
The difference, of course, is that Spurs' cup win comes with the bonus of Champions League football and potentially transformative revenues. But Levy and co no longer believe Postecoglou is the man to steer Spurs into that competition and beyond.
In fairness, they have substantial Premier League evidence to back up their position.
Since Postecoglou's blistering start, where Spurs won eight of their first 10 games at the beginning of the 2023/24 season and he picked up an unprecedented three Premier League manager of the month awards in a row, their top-flight performances have veered from underwhelming to wretched.
After those first 10 games, the next 18 months brought only momentary glimpses of the early dream. A 4-0 win at Aston Villa, a 3-0 win at Manchester United and the 4-0 win at Manchester City in November, yes. But also five defeats in six games as a top-four finish slipped away in his first campaign. Then a staggering 22 top-flight defeats this term, as Spurs sank to a worst-ever Premier League points total and finishing position.
Incredibly, 25 per cent of the Premier League points won under Postecoglou came in those first 10 games. Their 26 defeats across all competitions in 2024/25 is the most the club have ever suffered in a single season.
They are staggering stats which would have brought Postecoglou's reign to a close sooner had it not been for the European run.
An increasing friction with Spurs supporters didn't help the cause, either. The second half of this season saw Postecoglou and his players have a series of run-ins with the away end on their travels and booed off routinely at home. Those moments would have stuck in Levy's mind.
It had all come a long way from the early days when Spurs fans were singing 'We've got our Tottenham back' and hailing their love for 'Big Ange' to the tune of Robbie Williams' Angels.
Now there was ire for Ange - and plenty too for Levy and the club's ownership.
The costly injury crisis
Postecoglou's defence, of course, is injuries and how they distorted Spurs' performances and results.
The infamous defeat at home to Chelsea which busted Spurs' fine start under Postecoglou brought suspensions for Cristian Romero and Destiny Udogie and injuries to Micky van de Ven and James Maddison. Tottenham never fully recaptured their flow.
But if player absences were a notable feature of that first season, they became the overarching narrative of the second. Spurs' squad was stripped down to the bare bones by injuries to Guglielmo Vicario, Udogie, Romero, Van de Ven, Dominic Solanke and Richarlison among others, while Rodrigo Bentancur served a long suspension.
The scale of those absences shouldn't be talked down. With their first-choice defence and goalkeeper, Spurs' points-per-game tally would rank them second in the Premier League. Without them, it was relegation form.
With the majority of the absences coming in the busiest part of the season, Postecoglou was forced to repeatedly turn to teenagers and fringe players to field an XI. Perhaps most critically, the adapted tactics which eventually brought Europa League success was missing in the league when those stand-in players needed greater protection.
The injury crisis also exposed gaping holes in the club's recruitment processes and had them scrambling for goalkeeper and centre-back options in the winter window. Mathys Tel arrived on loan to boost the attack but like Lucas Bergvall, Archie Gray and Wilson Odobert - also signed as teenagers in the summer - he is only a fledgling talent.
The improvement in the team's competitiveness when they had their key players back for the Europa League run-in was stark.
Critics, though, would ask for reasons for how Tottenham could lose at previously winless Crystal Palace with their first-team players fit in October. Or at home to relegation-bound Ipswich in November, with the majority of their stars out on the pitch.
The defeat at home to Leicester may have come in the midst of that injury crisis but stands out glaringly within the Foxes' run of 15 Premier League defeats around it. Dr Tottenham, as they were labelled, seemed to be on hand to give opposition teams a leg up.
That perceived softness had already helped Leicester out on the opening Monday Night Football of the season, when Spurs let them off the hook in a 1-1 draw. The image of Postecoglou, hands on knees in despair, was a powerful one. A vulnerability and lack of ruthlessness in his side became a theme - before, during and after the injury crisis.
The end of Angeball
With Premier League aspirations long gone and a "horrendous" capitulation at Anfield extinguishing a first-leg Carabao Cup semi-final lead over Liverpool and any prospect of domestic success, Postecoglou's much-discussed record of always delivering in his second season - and the end of that trophy drought - rested on the Europa League.
Somehow, and with great credit to both Postecoglou and his players, Spurs were able to find a way to lift that trophy.
Free-flowing Angeball was ditched for a style more similar to Postecoglou's predecessors Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. Leads were clung onto with men behind the ball and a pragmatism previously unseen during Postecoglou's reign. The group came together to battle to a historic triumph.
Postecoglou later said the Europa League had been the priority since the turn of the year. An interesting revelation - and perhaps one which may not have gone down well in the Spurs boardroom. But rather than the completion of some masterplan, it was more a will to win which saw much-maligned Spurs through. A club so often criticised for its character showed plenty to get the job done.
But is that realistically repeatable?
With financial pressures more important than ever in football, a gamble on going again in that fashion was a risk Levy didn't fancy.
As the pressure came on in the second half of this season, Postecoglou made headlines for hitting out at 'Mr Hindsight' and the negative slant he felt all of Tottenham's tales were viewed with. In balance, it would also be wrong to overlook the fact he was the first Spurs manager in over a decade not to have a side turbo-charged by the goals of Harry Kane.
But in their review of his tenure, Spurs' hierarchy have made it clear - despite all the setbacks, injuries and issues Postecoglou had to deal with - they did not see evidence the Europa League win alone could be a launchpad for more sustained success. And so the Postecoglou Spurs story ends.