Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to create more history for Manchester United in Europe when he leads the Red Devils out in Gdansk against Villarreal for their UEFA Europa League Final fixture.
The Spanish side proved their worth by beating Arsenal in the semi-finals with former Gunners boss Unai Emery looking to land his fourth Europa League crown in his fifth final - with three wins while in charge of Sevilla and a defeat to Chelsea while at Arsenal.
Solskjaer will have to work without the services of captain Harry Maguire, despite travelling with the squad to Poland. The 28-year-old is facing a race against time to be available for England at Euro 2020 this summer after missing four games for his club due to an ankle ligament injury.
Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof should therefore be the most probable duo to start at centre back for United, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw back on the wings after resting against Wolves. Fred’s minor knock should not prevent him from joining Scott McTominay in the line-up.
Anthony Martial is out, while Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes should come back in for Amad Diallo, Daniel James and Juan Mata who were starters in the line up against Wolves on Sunday, May 23. Solskjaer’s final decision will likely be who leads the attack, with Edinson Cavani being the favourite for the position.
With a phenomenal record of 12 wins and two draws in their 14 Europa League matches so far, Villarreal may be the underdogs going into Wednesday's final, but Emery just seems to have that secret criteria of success on the continental showpiece.
The Red Devils and Villarreal have met four times previously, clashing in the group stages of the Champions League in 2005/06 and 2008/09. Remarkably, all four clashes with the Yellow Submarine ended goalless.
Unai Emery is a tactician familiar to English football clubs, with the Spaniard occupying the hot-seat at Arsenal for 18 months between May 2018 and November 2019. During that time, he guided the Gunners to the final of UEL competition, where they lost 4-1 to Chelsea in Baku, and his record in the Europa League has remained exemplary.
Villarreal boss Unai Emery is still optimistic that winger Samuel Chukwueze and defender Juan Foyth who is on loan from Tottenham could be involved. The pair picked up injuries during the semi-final fixture with Arsenal and haven’t played since.
Villarreal's overall record against English clubs is 5 Wins 7 Draws 5 Losses. This is their first encounter at a neutral venue.