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2021 UEFA Europa League Final
PGEARENNAGDA
Villarreal win 11–10 on penalties
Event2020–21 UEFA Europa League
Date26 May 2021 (2021-05-26)
VenueStadion Miejski, Gdańsk
Player of the MatchFlag of France Étienne Capoue (Villarreal)
RefereeFlag of France Clément Turpin
Attendance9,412
WeatherPartly cloudy night
11 °C (52 °F)
45% humidity
2020
2022

The 2021 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League, the 50th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 12th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. It was played on 26 May 2021 at the Stadion Miejski in Gdańsk, Poland, between Spanish club Villarreal and English club Manchester United.

The final was originally scheduled to be played at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spain. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final to Cologne, the final hosts were shifted back a year, with Gdańsk instead hosting the 2021 final, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

The final was originally scheduled to be played at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in Seville, Spain. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final to Cologne, the final hosts were shifted back a year, with Gdańsk instead hosting the 2021 final, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.

Villarreal won the match 11–10 on penalties following a 1–1 draw after extra time, thus winning the first major trophy in the club's history. As winners, Villarreal earned the right to play against the winners of the 2020–21 UEFA Champions League in the 2021 UEFA Super Cup. They also qualified for the group stage of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.

Teams[]

In the following table, finals until 2009 were in the UEFA Cup era, since 2010 were in the UEFA Europa League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Spain Villarreal None
England Manchester United 1 (2017)

Venue[]

The match was played at the Stadion Miejski in Gdańsk, Poland. At the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Kyiv in May 2018, the stadium was initially selected to host the 2020 UEFA Europa League Final, but when the COVID-19 pandemic forced UEFA to move the latter stages of the 2019–20 competition to Germany, the UEFA Executive Committee delayed Stadion Miejski's hosting of the Europa League final to 2021. The original venues for the 2021 and 2022 finals were also delayed by a year.

This was the first UEFA club match hosted at the stadium, which was one of the venues for UEFA Euro 2012. It is the second UEFA club competition final to be played in Poland, as the 2015 UEFA Europa League Final was played at the National Stadium in Warsaw. When the stadium was selected to host the 2020 final, it was known as Stadion Energa Gdańsk, so due to UEFA sponsorship regulations, marketing materials for the match referred to the venue as Gdańsk Stadium. Although the sponsorship deal with Energa was ended in November 2020, the stadium will continue to be known as Gdańsk Stadium for the final.

Host selection[]

An open bidding process was launched on 22 September 2017 by UEFA to select the venues of the finals of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, and UEFA Women's Champions League in 2020. Associations had until 31 October 2017 to express interest, and bid dossiers must be submitted by 1 March 2018. Associations hosting matches at UEFA Euro 2020 were not allowed to bid for the 2020 UEFA Europa League final.

UEFA announced on 3 November 2017 that two associations had expressed interest in hosting the 2020 UEFA Europa League final.

Bidding associations for final
Country Stadium City Capacity Notes
Flag of Poland Poland Stadion Energa Gdańsk Gdańsk 43,615
Flag of Portugal Portugal Estádio do Dragão Porto 50,035 Also bid for 2020 UEFA Super Cup

The Stadion Miejski in Gdańsk was selected by the UEFA Executive Committee during their meeting in Kyiv on 24 May 2018.

On 17 June 2020, the UEFA Executive Committee announced that due to the postponement and relocation of the 2020 final, Gdańsk would instead host the 2021 final.

Background[]

This is Villarreal's first ever major final in either domestic or European competition. The club have not won any major titles previously, only finishing as co-winners of the minor UEFA Intertoto Cup twice in 2003 and 2004. At the other hand, this is head coach Unai Emery's fifth European final, all in the Europa League; he won three successive titles with Sevilla in 2014, 2015 and 2016, before losing in 2019 with Arsenal.

Manchester United will play in their second UEFA Cup/Europa League final, having won in the previous occasion in 2017. Overall, this is their eighth European final. Ole Gunnar Solskjær reached his first final as the club's manager, having scored the winning goal in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final playing for them.

The clubs previously met four times, in the 2005–06 and 2008–09 Champions League group stages. All games ended in goalless draws.

Road to the final[]

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Flag of Spain Villarreal Round Flag of England Manchester United
Europa League Champions League
Opponent Result Group stage (EL, CL) Opponent Result
Flag of Turkey Sivasspor 5–3 (H) Matchday 1 Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain 2–1 (A)
Flag of Azerbaijan Qarabağ 3–1 (A) Matchday 2 Flag of Germany RB Leipzig 5–0 (H)
Flag of Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 4–0 (H) Matchday 3 Flag of Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 1–2 (A)
Flag of Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 1–1 (A) Matchday 4 Flag of Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 4–1 (H)
Flag of Turkey Sivasspor 1–0 (A) Matchday 5 Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain 1–3 (H)
Flag of Azerbaijan Qarabağ 3–0 (H) Matchday 6 Flag of Germany RB Leipzig 2–3 (A)
Group I winners
Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Notes
Flag of Spain Villarreal 6 5 1 0 17 5 +12 16 Advance to knockout phase
Flag of Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 6 3 2 1 6 7 −1 11
Flag of Turkey Sivasspor 6 2 0 4 9 11 −2 6
Flag of Azerbaijan Qarabağ 6 0 1 5 4 13 −9 1
Final standings Group H third place
Team Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Notes
Flag of France Paris Saint-Germain 6 4 0 2 13 6 +7 12 Advance to knockout phase
Flag of Germany RB Leipzig 6 4 0 2 11 12 −1 12
Flag of England Manchester United 6 3 0 3 15 10 +5 9 Transfer to Europa League
Flag of Turkey İstanbul Başakşehir 6 1 0 5 7 18 −11 3
Europa League
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Flag of Austria Red Bull Salzburg 4–1 2–0 (A) 2–1 (H) Round of 32 Flag of Spain Real Sociedad 4–0 4–0 (A) 0–0 (H)
Flag of Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 4–0 2–0 (A) 2–0 (H) Round of 16 Flag of Italy Milan 2–1 1–1 (H) 1–0 (A)
Flag of Croatia Dinamo Zagreb 3–1 1–0 (A) 2–1 (H) Quarter-finals Flag of Spain Granada 4–0 2–0 (A) 2–0 (H)
Flag of England Arsenal 2–1 2–1 (H) 0–0 (A) Semi-finals Flag of Italy Roma 8–5 6–2 (H) 2–3 (A)

Match[]

Details[]

The "home" team (for administrative purposes) will be determined by an additional draw to be held after the quarter-final and semi-final draws.

26 May 2021 (2021-05-26)
21:00 CEST
Villarreal Spain 1–1
(a.e.t.)
England Manchester United Stadion Miejski, Gdańsk
Attendance: 9,412
Referee: Clément Turpin (France)
Gerard Goal 29' Report Cavani Goal 55'
  Penalties  
Gerard Soccerball shad check
Raba Soccerball shad check
Alcácer Soccerball shad check
Moreno Soccerball shad check
Parejo Soccerball shad check
Gómez Soccerball shad check
Albiol Soccerball shad check
Coquelin Soccerball shad check
Mario Soccerball shad check
Torres Soccerball shad check
Rulli Soccerball shad check
11–10 Soccerball shad check Mata
Soccerball shad check Telles
Soccerball shad check Fernandes
Soccerball shad check Rashford
Soccerball shad check Cavani
Soccerball shad check Fred
Soccerball shad check James
Soccerball shad check Shaw
Soccerball shad check Tuanzebe
Soccerball shad check Lindelöf
Missed De Gea
Kit left arm villarreal2021H
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body villarreal2021H
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm villarreal2021H
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts villarreal2021h
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks long
Villarreal
Kit left arm manutd2021h
Kit left arm.svg
Kit body manutd2021H
Kit body.svg
Kit right arm manutd2021h
Kit right arm.svg
Kit shorts manutd2021h
Kit shorts.svg
Kit socks manutd2021h
Kit socks long
Manchester United
GK 13 Flag of Argentina Gerónimo Rulli
RB 8 Flag of Argentina Juan Foyth Booked in the 84th minute 84' Substituted off in the 88th minute 88'
CB 3 Flag of Spain Raúl Albiol (c)
CB 4 Flag of Spain Pau Torres
LB 24 Flag of Spain Alfonso Pedraza Substituted off in the 88th minute 88'
CM 5 Flag of Spain Dani Parejo
CM 25 Flag of France Étienne Capoue Booked in the 54th minute 54' Substituted off in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
CM 14 Flag of Spain Manu Trigueros Substituted off in the 77th minute 77'
RF 7 Flag of Spain Gerard Moreno
CF 9 Flag of Colombia Carlos Bacca Substituted off in the 60th minute 60'
LF 30 Flag of Spain Yeremy Pino Substituted off in the 77th minute 77'
Substitutes:
GK 1 Flag of Spain Sergio Asenjo
DF 2 Flag of Spain Mario Gaspar Substituted on in the 88th minute 88'
DF 6 Flag of Argentina Ramiro Funes Mori
DF 15 Flag of Ecuador Pervis Estupiñán
DF 18 Flag of Spain Alberto Moreno Substituted on in the 88th minute 88'
DF 20 Flag of Spain Rubén Peña
DF 21 Flag of Spain Jaume Costa
MF 12 Flag of Spain Dani Raba Substituted on in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
MF 19 Flag of France Francis Coquelin Substituted on in the 60th minute 60'
MF 23 Flag of Spain Moi Gómez Substituted on in the 77th minute 77'
FW 17 Flag of Spain Paco Alcácer Substituted on in the 77th minute 77'
FW 34 Flag of Spain Fer Niño
Manager:
Flag of Spain Unai Emery
GK 1 Flag of Spain David de Gea
RB 29 Flag of England Aaron Wan-Bissaka Substituted off in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
CB 2 Flag of Sweden Victor Lindelöf
CB 3 Flag of Ivory Coast Eric Bailly Booked in the 82nd minute 82' Substituted off in the 116th minute 116'
LB 23 Flag of England Luke Shaw
CM 6 Flag of France Paul Pogba Substituted off in the 116th minute 116'
CM 39 Flag of Scotland Scott McTominay Substituted off in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
RW 11 Flag of England Mason Greenwood Substituted off in the 100th minute 100'
AM 18 Flag of Portugal Bruno Fernandes (c)
LW 10 Flag of England Marcus Rashford
CF 7 Flag of Uruguay Edinson Cavani Booked in the 113th minute 113'
Substitutes:
GK 13 Flag of England Lee Grant
GK 26 Flag of England Dean Henderson
DF 5 Flag of England Harry Maguire
DF 27 Flag of Brazil Alex Telles Substituted on in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
DF 33 Flag of England Brandon Williams
DF 38 Flag of England Axel Tuanzebe Substituted on in the 116th minute 116'
MF 8 Flag of Spain Juan Mata Substituted on in the 120+3th minute 120+3'
MF 17 Flag of Brazil Fred Substituted on in the 100th minute 100'
MF 19 Flag of Ivory Coast Amad Diallo
MF 21 Flag of Wales Daniel James Substituted on in the 116th minute 116'
MF 31 Flag of Serbia Nemanja Matić
MF 34 Flag of Netherlands Donny van de Beek
Manager:
Flag of Norway Ole Gunnar Solskjær

Man of the Match:
Étienne Capoue (Villarreal)

Assistant referees:
Nicolas Danos (France)
Cyril Gringore (France)
Fourth official:
Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Video assistant referee:
François Letexier (France)
Assistant video assistant referees:
Jérôme Brisard (France)
Benjamin Pagès (France)
Pol van Boekel (Netherlands)

Match rules

  • 90 minutes
  • 30 minutes of extra time if necessary
  • Penalty shoot-out if scores still level
  • Twelve named substitutes
  • Maximum of five substitutions, with a sixth allowed in extra time

See also[]

External links[]

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