Villarreal has qualified for the first time for a European final at the expense of Arsenal. The number six of LaLiga held Arsenal in London to a 0-0 draw and that was enough after the previous 2-1 victory to make it to the final battle of the Europa League. Villarreal had his back to the wall in parts of the game and got away well when Pierre-Emerick headed Aubameyang on the post in the final stages, but on the whole Arsenal fell short of really making life difficult for the Spaniards. As a result, an all English final is not forthcoming and Villarreal takes on Manchester United. Arsenal seems to have lost the last chance to participate in European football next season.
Mikel Arteta made no fewer than seven changes compared to Sunday’s won league game against Newcastle United (0-2). Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Pablo Mari, Thomas Partey, Emile Smith Rowe, Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pépé played in place of Mathew Ryan, David Luiz (injured), Gabriel, Mohamed Elneny, Dani Ceballos (suspended), Willian and Gabriel Martinelli. Fellow coach Unai Emery, who qualified for a Europa League final for the fifth time, chose six new names against his old club after the 1-0 victory over Getafe: Gerónimo Rulli, Raúl Albiol, Alfonso Pedraza, Francis Coquelin, Manu Trigueros and Gerard Moreno made their entrance at the expense of Sergio Asenjo, Ramiro Funes Mori, Pervis Estupinan, Étienne Capoue (suspended), Dani Raba and Moi Gómez.
Aubameyang is almost making the first of the night! The striker, just recovered from malaria, hits the outside of the pole. # rtl7 #UEL #arsvil pic.twitter.com/LC89Ka3l2Z
– VTBL? (@vtbl) May 6, 2021
Samuel Chukwueze caused the first goal danger in the fourth minute. Served by Mario Gaspar, the Villarreal left winger fired his left leg from the edge of the penalty area and saw Leno make the save. Dani Parejo just shot over on behalf of Villarreal, after which Aubameyang hit the outside of the post with a diagonal swipe, when the ball landed in the penalty area in front of the outside of his foot. Seven minutes before half time, Aubameyang took another shot; goalkeeper Rulli initially let the ball slip out of his hands, but corrected his mistake in time. In between, Villarreal took a downer, as Chukwueze was taken away by stretcher with an apparently serious injury.
It was the only serious blow to Villarreal in the first half. The visitors largely kept Arsenal under control and were virtually qualified for the final with the intermediate score at half time. The second half started with two chances for Arsenal: Pépé curled the ball wide, after which Smith Rowe also missed a goal with a seesaw when Rulli did not clear the ball sufficiently. But after that, the number of options remained limited. Leno prevented Moreno from making it 0-1 after an hour. In the final phase, Arsenal increased the pressure. Aubameyang nodded close to the post after a cross from Héctor Bellerín, but that was it. Villarreal took sporting revenge for the Champions League eliminations against Arsenal in 2006 and 2009 and will face Manchester United in Gdańsk on Wednesday 26 May.