Villarreal are the 2021 Europa League champions. El Submarino Amarillo upset Manchester United in Wednesday night’s final to clinch their first-ever European title in their 98-year existence.
The Spanish side beat the Red Devils 11-10 on penalties after the two sides played out to a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes. Villarreal’s manager Unai Emery also made history, becoming the first manager to win 4 Europa titles, having guided Sevilla to 2014, 15 and 16 titles.
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David De Gea got his penalty saved after 21 successful shots.
It was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s first-ever appearance in a cup final since taking over as manager in 2018. He previously made it to 4 semi-finals, including last year’s Europa’s semis. Solskjaer says they didn’t do enough in regulation time.
“Well, you know, when it goes to penalties, anything can happen. I have got to say the penalty shootout was, uhh, high quality. But we didn’t do enough in the 120 minutes to score more goals, and of course, that’s the disappointing bit. We built pressure. We had moments that we felt if we can kick on a little bit here now, you can get the goal, but we just couldn’t.”
United finished second in the Premier League, made it to the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and the quarter-finals of the FA Cup this season.