Villarreal vs Manchester United: Will Emery cause upset for Red Devils?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be looking for his first piece of silverware at Manchester United as the Red Devils take on Villarreal in the Europa League final on Wednesday evening.
The Red Devils secured second place for themselves in the Premier League after beating Wolves 2-1 at the weekend and now will be looking to win their first European title since 2017. To get here, they easily brushed aside a hapless Roma side in the semi-finals, scoring eight times against the Giallorossi over two legs in a lopsided affair and will be looking forward to getting their hands on yet another European crown. However, they will be taking on a Villarreal side led by Unai Emery, who used to coach Sevilla.
Sevilla, as we all know, have built their reputation as serial Europa League winners, and three of their titles were under the Spanish tactician’s tenure. Moreover, Emery won all three of those titles (2014, 2015, and 2016) consecutively – something that no manager in history has done.
Emery got revenge on Arsenal for sacking him as his side beat them in the semi’s to earn a ticket to this season’s final, and despite easily dispatching Roma, Solskjaer will know that Villarreal will present a much sterner opponent than the Italian team. Although the Yellow Submarine ended up losing their final La Liga match to Real Madrid, they’ll still be fancying their chances at winning what would be their first-ever Europa League trophy in this match.
Out of their 14 Europa League games, Villarreal have won 12 so far, drawing the other two. They may not be viewed as a giant like Manchester United, but historically, Spanish teams have done better in European competitions when it comes to taking on English sides. In fact, English teams have had a nightmare of a time when facing Spanish foes – they’ve lost nine times in a row in the finals – so Manchester United will be hoping to buck that trend on Wednesday evening.
But they’ll be facing a team who have scored in 13 of their last 14 matches. And while Manchester United are no stranger to success, especially not on the European stage, Villarreal, despite being debutants at this are ready to match wits with one of the giants of European football. Will the Yellow Submarine sink the Red Devils, or will Solskjaer’s hard work this season pay off and earn him his first trophy?
