Europa League Final Preview
Villareal and Manchester United will face off tonight in Gdansk, with the prize being the Europa League trophy.
Road to the Final: Villarreal
Villarreal topped their group, which included Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sivasspor and Qarabaĝ. They won five and drew one of their group games.
The round of 32 saw them win 4-1 on aggregate against Red Bull Salzburg which set up a round of 16 tie against Dynamo Kyiv. They won both legs 2-0 and faced Dinamo Zagreb in the quarterfinals.
A 1-0 win in Croatia came courtesy of a Gerard Moreno penalty. In the return leg at the Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal managed to win 2-1 with goals from Paco Alcacer and Gerard Moreno.
The semi-final saw Unai Emery face his former side Arsenal. The first leg for Villarreal took place at the Estadio de la Cerámica, which resulted in a 2-1 win, with goals from Manuel Trigueros and Raul Albiol. In the return leg, a goalless draw was enough to seal a Europa League final place.
Villarreal have reached the final without losing a game in the competition.
Road to the Final: Manchester United
Manchester United entered the Europa League in the last 32 after they finished third in their Champions League group.
They won 4-0 on aggregate against Real Sociedad to advance to the last 16, where they faced AC Milan. They won the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
Manchester United faced Granada in the quarterfinals. In the first leg in Spain, they won 2-0 with goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes and in the return leg at Old Trafford they also won 2-0 courtesy of Edinson Cavani and an own goal from Jesus Vallejo.
In the semi-finals they faced Roma, with the first leg ending in a 6-2 victory with a brace for both Cavani and Fernandes and a goal each for Paul Pogba and Mason Greenwood. Manchester United lost the second leg 3-2 with Cavani scoring twice. They advanced to the final with an 8-5 aggregate win.
Team News
Both Samuel Chukwueze and Juan Foyth are doubts for Villarreal with hamstring injuries. Vicente Iborra is out injured.
Manchester United are without Anthony Martial and Phil Jones. Harry Maguire is unlikely to be passed fit for the final.
Form
Villarreal: LWWLD
Manchester United: WDLLW
Final Thoughts:
Villarreal are looking for their first major European trophy and a win would give them a Champions League place rather than the Europa Conference League place they currently have for next season.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is looking for his first trophy as Manchester United manager and Manchester United are looking to win the Europa League for the second time in their history.
