The Europa League final, on May 26 in Gdansk (Poland), will pit Manchester United against Villarreal, after two very different return semifinals, in substance and in form, Thursday, May 6 in Rome and London. 3-2 for AS Roma against the Red Devils, for the honor, after the debacle of the Italians at Old Trafford (6-2); 0-0 between Arsenal and Villarreal, who won 2-1 in Spain last week.
There was therefore something for everyone, in both capitals, and this final will be a unique moment for the players of the yellow “submarine”. But not for his coach Unai Emery, a great specialist in the Europa League that he has won three times.
Manchester shivers
The Red Devils, winners of this C3 in 2017, with José Mourinho at the helm, were scared for a little while, at the start of the second period, when AS Roma struck twice in quick succession, in the space of three minutes, to lead 2-1 and revive the hope of an improbable “remount”. Dzeko (57e) and Cristante (60e) sent a slight shiver down the backs of the Mancuniens, then Edinson Cavani, like twice in the first leg, appeared to reassure everyone and score his second goal of the match.
The ex-Paris SG striker did not close the mark because it was a young Pole who took care of it: Nicola Zalewski, 19, just to save the honor of the Romans: 3-2, but 8 -5 when adding the two rounds. While this Roman semi-final was a little unbridled, with many opportunities on both sides and very useful posts to help the Mancunian David de Gea, very effective otherwise (10 saves or parades), the London match has been locked from start to finish.
An unsinkable yellow submarine
The “yellow submarine” of Unai Emery, former Arsenal coach, initially took the game on his own to prevent the English attackers from getting too close to the Spanish cages. One goal would have been enough for the Gunners to qualify, after their narrow 2-1 loss on the lawn of Villarreal. They had a one in two chance of passing on paper, but they were too clumsy, overall, and they were unsuccessful, which didn’t help.
Aubameyang found the post twice, among other occasions, then Lacazette returned, Mikel Arteta’s men pushed, pushed, but it was too late and the yellow submarine remained unsinkable.
It will be Villarreal’s first European final, with two ex-Parisians on the bench and the lawn: Emery on the one hand, who led PSG before returning to Spain; Cavani on the other hand, top scorer in the history of PSG but left before the final phase of the Champions League last summer in Portugal. Reunion in sight.