Welcome to Europa League final build-up
Villarreal v Man Utd (10pm)
In the red corner, we have the three-time European champions, 20-times English champions, 12-times FA Cup winners with another 31 trophies in the cabinet.
In the yellow corner, we have the zero-times winners of any major trophy.
Thousands of fans from both teams have travelled to Poland for the game which is at Gdansk's Stadion Miejski.
There will be a crowd of up to 9,500, 25% capacity - 2,000 tickets for each club (although more may have travelled).
Sir Alex Ferguson will be Manchester United’s representative at the Europa League trophy presentation in Gdansk this evening.
Each club is allowed one person to stand alongside Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the rest of the presentation party when he hands the medals out at the end of the game.
On United’s most recent Europa League final appearance in Stockholm four years ago, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward did the job.
Sir Bobby Charlton fulfilled the role at the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow and tonight, United have decided Ferguson will be the man to stand alongside Ceferin.
SQUAD
The big news around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team selection is Mason Greenwood getting a starting spot ahead of Fred.
It's a move that will see Paul Pogba drop back into an orthodox midfield position and put pressure on him to be disciplined and Scott McTominay to cover him when needed.
Greenwood has pace and finishing ability and United will think they have got their best offensive players on the pitch.
STATS
Villarreal and United are meeting for the fifth time... but neither team have scored yet.
Each of the previous four meetings finishing 0-0 in the Champions League between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Villarreal are not La Liga giants by any means.
They only reached the top flight for the first time in 1998, having been in the fourth tier in 1990-91.
The Yellow Submarine's 'trophy cabinet' consists of one Third Division title and two Intertoto Cups.
Villarreal's modern European pedigree is not bad however. They have reached five semi-finals (including the 2005-06 Champions League) - but this is their first final.
Current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored to help Ferguson's United win the 1999 Champions League exactly 22 years ago.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will contest only his second final in his managerial career, having won the 2013 Norwegian Cup with Molde. Solskjaer would be the first Norwegian manager to win a major European trophy.
This is Manchester United's eighth major European final, the second-most of any English club after Liverpool (14).
They have been crowned winners in five of the previous seven finals, losing only against Barcelona in the Champions League in both 2008-09 and 2010-11.
Aged 19 years and 237 days on the day of the final, United's Mason Greenwood could become only the second English teenager to score in a major European final after Brian Kidd, who scored on his 19th birthday for United in the 1968 European Cup final against Benfica.
United's Edinson Cavani has scored five goals and provided two assists in only 247 minutes of Europa League action this season, averaging either a goal or an assist every 35 minutes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the youngest manager to take charge of Man Utd in a European Final aged 48y 88d
Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga this season, 19th points off the top four.
If they lose today, it's the Europa Conference League play-offs next season. If they win, it's the Champions League group stages.
United are already guaranteed a Champions League place - but winning today would put them among the top seeds and give them an easier group in theory.
The past nine Europa League finals have been won by either a Spanish or an English team.
Sevilla have won four, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have won two each and Manchester United won the other.
You'd have to go back to 2001 (Alaves v Liverpool) for the last time a Spanish side lost a Uefa Cup/Europa League final to a foreign team.
Villarreal, who beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final, are unbeaten in European competition this season, winning 12 times and drawing twice.
They had lost their four previous European semi-finals prior to beating the Gunners to reach a first major final in any competition.
A club that was first promoted to La Liga in 1998, they hail from a town of 50,000 people.
Villarreal v Man Utd (10pm)
In the red corner, we have the three-time European champions, 20-times English champions, 12-times FA Cup winners with another 31 trophies in the cabinet.
In the yellow corner, we have the zero-times winners of any major trophy.
Thousands of fans from both teams have travelled to Poland for the game which is at Gdansk's Stadion Miejski.
There will be a crowd of up to 9,500, 25% capacity - 2,000 tickets for each club (although more may have travelled).
Sir Alex Ferguson will be Manchester United’s representative at the Europa League trophy presentation in Gdansk this evening.
Each club is allowed one person to stand alongside Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin and the rest of the presentation party when he hands the medals out at the end of the game.
On United’s most recent Europa League final appearance in Stockholm four years ago, executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward did the job.
Sir Bobby Charlton fulfilled the role at the 2008 Champions League final in Moscow and tonight, United have decided Ferguson will be the man to stand alongside Ceferin.
SQUAD
The big news around Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team selection is Mason Greenwood getting a starting spot ahead of Fred.
It's a move that will see Paul Pogba drop back into an orthodox midfield position and put pressure on him to be disciplined and Scott McTominay to cover him when needed.
Greenwood has pace and finishing ability and United will think they have got their best offensive players on the pitch.
STATS
Villarreal and United are meeting for the fifth time... but neither team have scored yet.
Each of the previous four meetings finishing 0-0 in the Champions League between 2005-06 and 2008-09.
Villarreal are not La Liga giants by any means.
They only reached the top flight for the first time in 1998, having been in the fourth tier in 1990-91.
The Yellow Submarine's 'trophy cabinet' consists of one Third Division title and two Intertoto Cups.
Villarreal's modern European pedigree is not bad however. They have reached five semi-finals (including the 2005-06 Champions League) - but this is their first final.
Current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored to help Ferguson's United win the 1999 Champions League exactly 22 years ago.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will contest only his second final in his managerial career, having won the 2013 Norwegian Cup with Molde. Solskjaer would be the first Norwegian manager to win a major European trophy.
This is Manchester United's eighth major European final, the second-most of any English club after Liverpool (14).
They have been crowned winners in five of the previous seven finals, losing only against Barcelona in the Champions League in both 2008-09 and 2010-11.
Aged 19 years and 237 days on the day of the final, United's Mason Greenwood could become only the second English teenager to score in a major European final after Brian Kidd, who scored on his 19th birthday for United in the 1968 European Cup final against Benfica.
United's Edinson Cavani has scored five goals and provided two assists in only 247 minutes of Europa League action this season, averaging either a goal or an assist every 35 minutes.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is the youngest manager to take charge of Man Utd in a European Final aged 48y 88d
Villarreal finished seventh in La Liga this season, 19th points off the top four.
If they lose today, it's the Europa Conference League play-offs next season. If they win, it's the Champions League group stages.
United are already guaranteed a Champions League place - but winning today would put them among the top seeds and give them an easier group in theory.
The past nine Europa League finals have been won by either a Spanish or an English team.
Sevilla have won four, Chelsea and Atletico Madrid have won two each and Manchester United won the other.
You'd have to go back to 2001 (Alaves v Liverpool) for the last time a Spanish side lost a Uefa Cup/Europa League final to a foreign team.
Villarreal, who beat Arsenal 2-1 on aggregate in the semi-final, are unbeaten in European competition this season, winning 12 times and drawing twice.
They had lost their four previous European semi-finals prior to beating the Gunners to reach a first major final in any competition.
A club that was first promoted to La Liga in 1998, they hail from a town of 50,000 people.
Last edited:
on may 26
