Villarreal CF take on Manchester United this Wednesday in the UEFA Europa League final (9pm CEST). The Gdansk stadium will host the historic tie for the Yellows, with up to 2,100 ‘Groguets’ travelling to Poland to support the team in what promises to be an unforgettable landmark final for the club.
A faultless journey
Villarreal’s journey to reach the UEFA Europa League final has been immaculate. Impressively, the Yellows have gone undefeated since the start of the competition, cruising through the group stages with 16 points, finishing top, ahead of Maccabi Tel Aviv, Sivasspor and Qarabağ FK.
In the knockout stages, Unai Emery’s side eliminated FC Salzburg in the Round of 32 (0-2 and 2-1), Dynamo Kyiv in the Round of 16 (0-2 and 2-0), Dinamo Zagreb in the quarter-finals (0-1 and 2-1) and Arsenal FC in the semi-finals (2-1 and 0-0).
Furthermore, with 88 matches, Villarreal are the team to have played the most matches in the UEFA Europa League, with 14 more than FC Salzburg. If that wasn’t enough, the Yellows are also the side to have scored the most goals in the competition’s history, scoring 151 goals, 22 more than Sevilla FC.
The opposition
Manchester United know what it feels like to lift the UEFA Europa League, winning the trophy during the 2016/17 campaign. This season, the ‘Red Devils’ finished second in the Premier League and have performed brilliantly in the Europa League to take them all the way to the final.
The English side played in the Champions League group stages, placed in Group H alongside PSG, RB Leipzig and Istanbul Başakşehir. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s side started off well in Europe’s top competition, beating the Parisian giants (1-2) and the Germans (5-0). However, they lost three of their last four group games and ended up finishing third, which saw them drop into the UEFA Europa League.
In the second European competition, United have been very impressive, eliminating some fantastic teams along the way. In the Round of 32, the English side dispatched of Real Sociedad (0-4 and 0-0); in the Round of 16, they triumphed over AC Milan (1-1 and 0-1); and in the quarter-finals they once again eliminated Spanish opposition, beating Granada CF (0-2 and 2-0). Finally, in the semi-finals, they beat AS Roma (6-2 and 3-2).
In the Europa League, two of their standout players have been Bruno Fernandes and Edinson Cavani, who have both scored five goals each. The Portuguese midfielder has also provided four assists throughout the competition.
Previous match-ups
Villarreal have faced Manchester United on four previous occasions, with all four meetings ending in 0-0 draws. The Yellows first faced ‘The Red Devils’ in the UEFA Champions League group stages in 2005/06, the campaign in which Villarreal reached the semi-finals, with Manchester United finishing bottom of the group. The second pair of fixtures against the English club also took place in the group stages of the Champions League, this time in 2008/09, when Villarreal were knocked-out in the quarter-finals, whereas United reached the final.
Against English sides, the Yellow Submarine have a very balanced record, with five wins, seven draws and five defeats. In addition to Manchester United, the Yellows have previously faced Arsenal FC, Manchester City, Liverpool FC, Everton FC and Middlesbrough FC in European competitions.
The setting
The final will take place in Gdansk, in what will be Villarreal’s first ever official game on Polish soil. The host city, with over 582,000 inhabitants, is the sixth largest urban area in Poland.
The Gdansk stadium will host the historic occasion for Villarreal. Inaugurated on 14th August 2011, it has a capacity of 43,615 spectators. It’s the first time that the stadium has hosted a European final, but it hosted four games during UEFA EURO 2012 nine years ago, including three group-stage games for the Spanish national side.
This is the second UEFA Europa League final that will take place in Poland, with Gdansk taking the baton from Varsovia, which hosted the 2014/15 final.
