Villarreal have the chance to disintegrate the trophy hopes of Real Madrid and Manchester United.
They face title challengers Real Madrid on the final match day in La Liga while 4 days later they travel to Gdansk to compete in the Europa League final against United.
The Yellow Submarine are undoubtedly not expected to come out with victories in these two rigorous back-to-back games however if they do defy all odds the rewards could be phenomenal and the humiliation of these so-called European giants would be even greater.
The European Super League sparked exponential outrage and protests from all fans across the continent and Villarreal could ultimately reinforce this like numerous smaller sides but this time at the biggest stage of them all.
Villarreal's UCL campaigns against Man United
In the Champions League, Villarreal competed against Manchester United in the 2004/05 tournament where Villarreal were undefeated in the group stage with United finishing last with their results consisting of two goalless draws against the Spanish side.
Another meeting between the sides occurred in the 2008/09 competition when another two stalemates occurred again. Even at Old Trafford under the famous Sir Alex Ferguson did United not score a single goal against their bogey team in the UCL.
Cristiano Ronaldo in the UCL vs Villarreal.
The 2004/05 camping was the most memorable and commemorated in the Spanish club's history as they reached the semi-finals.
They have the chance this year to do even better arguably, with a Europa League to add to their triumph-less trophy cabinet and also to knock Real Madrid cynically off the podium of La Liga by overcoming them.This however requires goals to defeat their formidable opponents and Manchester United, I'm sure will have a sense of vindictiveness heading into Wednesday's final.
Talisman Forlán:
The golden era was upon the Spaniards in the first decade of this century especially influenced by Diego Forlan abandoning Manchester United in 2004 in a bid for a new start in Villarreal.
During the same season, the club's centre-forward Diego Forlán won the Pichichi Trophy for top scorer in the league, with 25 goals amidst the club's triumph of finishing 3rd in the league to grant yet another European qualification.The transfer paid off as he shared the European Golden Shoe in 2005 with Thierry Henry and helped to fend off against his former club in the Champions League the next season.
Since his departure, the eye of a tiger talisman has been absent in the side until Gerard Moreno's arrival whose form this season has been similar to that of the Uruguayan attacker 15 years ago.
Could the man with 29 goals and one in front of Bruno Fernandes, two in front of Harry Kane this term, be the difference maker in Gdansk next week?
Match Previews:
Their tie against Manchester United was rescheduled to Wednesday 26th May 2021 8pm GMT.
"The order of priority is the game we play in the competition in which we are in," Emery told journalists at his most recent press conference.
"La Liga is the one that marks our consistency and the objective that is to be in Europe. We already ran out of options to (finish) among the top four.
"Then there is the Europa League and La Liga, which is only one that gives us access to this. And then there is the Conference League, which should not be demeaned because it is a European competition.
"We have the option of playing for a title that is important like the Europa League. The ambitions objective is given by the Europa League and the important goal is given by La Liga.
"On Saturday we will have an eye ob the Manchester United game. It is important that we play on Saturday and I think we deserved it because we are in the final representing Spanish football."
Emery is also optimistic for Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze to feature in the final, after the 22-year-old sustained an injury in their semi-final against Arsenal where they prevented an 'all-english' European final.
Emery has hinted that he is optimistic about having Nigerian winger Samuel Chukwueze available for the final, after he sustained an injury in their semi-final second leg against Arsenal.
Villarreal look to be in prime position to take home a guaranteed Europa League spot and even a Champions League spot with the support of European mastermind Unai Emery and their fans.
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