Gdansk’s Municipal Stadium is the venue for the 2020/21 UEFA Europa League final, with Villarreal and Manchester United battling it out on Wednesday night.
Man Utd booked their spot in the final following an 8-5 aggregate thrashing of Roma in the previous round.
Meanwhile, Villarreal beat Arsenal 2-1 in the semi-finals – registering two wins and two losses in their final four La Liga matches since then.
Unai Emery’s men finished seventh in the Spanish top-flight, five points ahead of eighth-place Celta Vigo and three points behind sixth-place Real Betis.
Villarreal ended the campaign with a record of W15-D13-L10, scoring 60 goals while conceded 44 along the way.
Remarkably, Villarreal have yet to taste defeat in the Europa League this season – recording 12 wins and two draws in the process.
It is also worth pointing out that Villarreal have kept eight clean sheets in their 14 Europa League matches this term, giving them a shutout rate of 57%.
It’s safe to say that Gerard Moreno is Villarreal’s danger man. The 29-year-old has bagged 29 goals and 11 assists in 45 appearances this season, including six goals and four assists in the Europa League.
On the flip side, Manchester United finished second in the Premier League – 12 points behind champions and rivals Manchester City.
The Red Devils finished with a record of W21-D11-L6 and scored an impressive 73 goals in 38 matches – averaging 1.9 goals per game.
As for the Europa League, Man Utd have racked up five wins, two draws and one loss in the competitions this season.
After crushing Roma 6-2 in the first leg of their semi-final tie, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side lost 3-2 in the second leg but still advanced with ease.
Bruno Fernandes has notched up five goals and four assists in eight Europa League outings this season, while Edinson Cavani has bagged five goals and three assists in just four appearances.
Head-to-head: Villarreal and Man Utd have faced each other four times over the years. Interestingly, every match has ended goalless.
The two sides were drawn against each other in the 2005/06 and 2008/09 Champions League campaigns, but there was nothing to separate the teams.
Team news: Villarreal trio Vicente Iborra, Juan Foyth and Samuel Chukwueze will miss out on the final through injury.
Man Utd will be without Phil Jones and Anthony Martial, although Harry Maguire is a major doubt for Wednesday’s showpiece.
Man Utd head into the final as the bookmakers’ favourites, but Villarreal are expected to give the English side a run for their money.
Forebet predicts that Man Utd and Villarreal will produce a low-scoring draw inside 90 minutes, with extra-time – and possibly penalties – need to decide the winner.
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