The day after the lost Europa League final, David de Gea has to suffer in the British media. The Manchester United goalkeeper became the schlemiel on the English side after he failed to turn a single penalty from Villarreal in the penalty shootout and missed the decisive penalty himself. The Spanish goalie thus formed the basis of Villarreal’s first Europa League win in club history and the fourth overall victory of Unai Emery as a trainer, who previously triumphed in the service of Sevilla three years in a row. It is remarkable that De Gea deviated from the notes during the penalty shootout.
The Sun does not blame the missed penalty kick on De Gea, but is of the opinion that another statistic should be critically examined. “De Gea has not stopped any of the last 40 penalties he received,” the newspaper wrote on Thursday. “That includes Villarreal’s eleven penalties. He was not expected to use his penalty, but it is unbelievable that the man with a weekly salary of over 400,000 euros was last able to stop a penalty five years ago.” The Sun refers to a penalty kick from Romelu Lukaku in the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 2016.
“The interesting thing is that Dean Henderson (reserve goalkeeper, ed.) In the same period managed to turn eight penalties, six of which in professional football. But Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not opt for a Tim Krul-like substitution,” the newspaper refers to the substitution that Louis van Gaal applied during the 2014 World Cup by taking Jasper Cillessen to the side in the quarterfinals against Costa Rica before the start of the penalty shootout. United and Villarreal fired sharp from eleven meters on Wednesday evening. After ten field players from both teams managed to find the net, it was Gerónimo Rulli and De Gea’s turn, after which the latter failed.
According to The Mirror De Gea can indeed be blamed for something in the penalty shootout, as the goalkeeper would not have acted according to the cheat sheet compiled by the goalkeeper coaches. “De Gea decided to ignore the note and dive to the left at Moisés Gómez’s penalty kick. If he had followed the notes, he would have known Gomez would shoot his penalty right through the middle. If he had stayed standing, he would have had the penalty. and United had won. ” During the penalty shootout, De Gea therefore partly abandoned the notes, the sheet of which he folded in his towel. Sky Italiareporter Angelo Mangiante shared a photo of the note on Twitter.
Here are the details of De Gea written for the penalties. They weren’t enough. @SkySport #MUFC @GianluBagnu #UELfinal pic.twitter.com/VSQonEukNj
– Angelo Mangiante (@angelomangiante) May 26, 2021
Paul Pogba immediately removed the medals from around his neck, while Bruno Fernandes broke down in tears. Victor Lindelöf did not keep it dry either. Nevertheless, Paul Scholes joined BT Sport are questioned about the emotions after the lost final. The club legend believed that the defeat “didn’t hurt” United’s players and that losing has become “acceptable” at the club with which he won the Premier League title 11 times. “Doesn’t it hurt to lose?” Scholes wondered aloud. “A few players showed their emotions, the rest seemed to accept it. United has become a nice club instead of a club that is seriously competing for the prizes.”
The Spaniards triumphed in all last sixteen European finals between a Spanish team and a non-Spanish team. A statistic that was proudly shared by Hedwiges Maduro on Wednesday evening. The former midfielder played in Spain for Valencia and Seville and worked closely with Emery, but failed to win a European club tournament. Emery added his fourth Europa League to the trophy cabinet on Wednesday-evening. Between 2013 and 2016, he already managed to win the European competition three times with Sevilla. In 2019 he lost the final with Arsenal.