The Europa League 2020-21 season came to an end on Wednesday as Villarreal defeated Manchester United 11-10 on penalties in Gdansk to claim their first European Crown and qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season.
Manchester United came into the match as heavy favourites as they attempted to win the competition for the second time in their history and win a first major piece of silverware under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
As seen all season, United started off slowly and found themselves 1-0 down at halftime. A set piece move from Daniel Parejo found Gerard Moreno at the back post to slam it in from close range in the 29th minute. Another comeback was needed from Manchester United.
They found the equalizer in the 55th minute as Edinson Cavani converted from close range after Villarreal failed to clear their lines from a resulting corner.
There was no separating this two inside 90 minutes and the match went into extra time. After another 30 minutes of footballing action there was still no separating them as the game went on to penalties, the cruelest way to decide a game.
After a long and cruelsome penalty shootout it all came down between the face-off of the two keepers. Villarreal keeper Geronimo Rulli first smashed his effort past his opposite number in the top right corner before saving David De Gea' penalty to win the shootout 11-10.
This turned out to be Villarreal's coach Unai Emery's 4th Triumph in the competition. He did a hattrick with Sevilla in 2014,2015 and 2016. For Manchester United a season which promised so much ended with a negative impact.
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