Manchester United’s longing to lift the trophy will be tested by Villarreal in the Europa League final at Gdansk Stadium, Thursday (27/5).
The Europa League is the last resort for Manchester United to win the title this season, after only finishing runner -up in the Premier League and falling in the FA Cup and the English League Cup.
So far, the Red Devils have not won the title for three seasons after the last time in the 2016/2017 season when they won the Europa League, English League Cup and Community Shield.
If Manchester United fail to take home the Europa League trophy, it will be Man United’s fourth season of title fasting, or the longest since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
When Ferguson leaves at the end of the 2012/2013 season after winning the English League, the Old Trafford -based club will have to wait three seasons to return to the championship podium.
Ferguson successor David Moyes won the 2013 Community Shield, but the trophy was not included in the title because it was not the main event.
The real trophy won by Manchester United after Ferguson’s departure was the 2015/2016 FA Cup title won by Louis van Gaal when Man United beat Crystal Palace 2-1.
Man United then did not wait long to return the champions. In the 2016/2017 season, the success of The Red Devils began with the 2016 Community Shield with new coach Jose Mourinho.
In the same season, the Portuguese coach led Man Utd to two titles, the Europa League and the League Cup.
In the League Cup, Man United beat Southampton 3-2, while in the Europa League which became the first trophy in the second level interclub tournament in Europe, Man United defeated Ajax Amsterdam 2-0 at the Friends Arena.
It’s just that, since getting those two titles, David de Gea and friends have had such difficulty bringing home trophies in major tournaments.
In the 2017/2018 season, Man United finished second in the Premier League final standings. Still in the same season, Man United also became the FA Cup runner-up after losing 0-1 to Chelsea at Wembley.
When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer came to power in the 2019/2020 season, Manchester United were expected to take home a number of trophies after reaching the semifinals in three tournaments: the FA Cup, the League Cup, and the Europa League.
However, Man United’s struggles in the three tournaments stalled. After losing 2-3 on aggregate to Manchester City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, Manchester United lost 1-3 to Chelsea.
In the semifinals of the Europa League 2019/2020, Man United performed well against Sevilla. Had won through a penalty goal by Bruno Fernandes, Man United was finally eliminated because of Luuk de Jong’s goal before the end of the match.
The defensive sector could be Man United’s focus against Villarreal if they do not want to fail to win the Europa League trophy this season, which is their only chance of becoming champions.
Moreover, in the last game in the Premier League, Man United have conceded 8 goals or an average of 2 goals in each game.
Composing Manchester United’s defense against Villarreal in the Europa League final was a heavy task for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian coach could not play around main players. Unfortunately, a number of names played in the last four games in the Premier League have not been ideal for a return to play against Villarreal.
After Harry Maguire was absent with an ankle injury against Aston Villa, Manchester United played Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof and Axel Tuanzebe.
The three are paired alternately, but it is difficult to do their job well. Lucky for Manchester United, before the Europa League final, captain Harry Maguire brought by Solskjaer to Poland. But it is not clear how fit Maguire will be for the finals later.
The result of two defeats and one draw from the last four games is proof that Man United’s defense needs Maguire.
Some call the former Leicester City defender Virgil van Dijk in Liverpool. When Van Dijk was absent for a long time, Liverpool collapsed.
If Maguire can be played, Solskjaer will only need to find the ideal partner for the England defender.
In the Premier League, the Maguire-Lindelof duel resulted in 16 wins. Man United have won the Champions League twice with Maguire-Lindelof and three times in the Europa League, including a 6-2 win over AS Roma in the first leg semifinals.
In addition to Lindelof, Maguire has many duets with Bailly, resulting in one win in the Europa League and 4 in the Premier League. Bailly’s pair with Tuanzebe grabbed a win in the Premier League.
However, if Maguire has to be absent because he is not fit to play against Villarreal, Man United can drop the Lindelof-Bailly combination or play three defenders as an alternative for the game later.
However, one thing that needs to be highlighted by Man United in the final is, still need to be vigilant with the surprise of the Unai Emery team.
Man United need to learn from their experience against Sevilla in the Europa League semi -finals last season after failing to reach the final due to delays in the defense sector.
In that match, Maguire Lindelof’s duet lost with Luuk de Jong’s goal in the 78th minute which used a cross from Jesus Navas.
Lindelof’s position that does not stick tightly to De Jong is the cause. Meanwhile, Maguire’s position is a little further.
The ball from Navas could not be anticipated by Lindelof which became a mature bait for De Jong to break David de Gea’s goal.
Man United not only need to learn from last season’s experience, but also be vigilant with Villarreal’s goal report in the final minutes.
In the Spanish League, The Yellow Submarine scored 4 goals in the 80th minute, 4 goals in the Europa League, and 4 goals in the Copa del Rey.
Without a solid defense, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side are unlikely to take home the Europa League. That way, Solskjaer and his players will set the longest record for Manchester United without winning a trophy since Ferguson left.
