VILLARREAL BEAT MANCHESTER UNITED ON PENALTIES TO WIN EUROPA LEAGUE
GDANSK: The penalty shootout was going badly for Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea in the Europa League final, beaten by every Villarreal player who stepped up to the spot.
At 11-10, it got dramatically worse. The shootout — after a 1-1 draw following extra time — went on so long that all of the outfield players took penalties, meaning De Gea and Villarreal goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli were the 11th men up. Rulli sent his penalty into the top corner, but De Gea’s lacked power and was stopped by the Villarreal keeper.
As Rulli lay on the grass after his save, the entire team ran over and piled on top of him. It was an upset to savor as Villarreal — a team from a city of about 50,000 people — secured the first major trophy in the 98-year history of the club by beating one of European soccer’s giants. It also secured a lucrative Champions League spot for next season rather than playing in the new third-tier Europa Conference League after Villarreal only finished seventh in the Spanish league. And it stopped an English sweep of the two big European competitions before Chelsea and Manchester City play the Champions League final on Saturday. “It feels really good,” Villarreal midfielder Francis Coquelin said. “When you go down to the end it’s the winner taking it all. It was tough, we had a tough game. Manchester put a lot of pressure on us, especially in the first half.” For Villarreal coach Unai Emery it was a record fourth Europa League title, and it offered a measure of redemption after he was fired by Arsenal last season. He won three Europa League titles in a row with Sevilla from 2014-16 and lost the 2019 final with Arsenal against Chelsea.