Villarreal coach Unai Emery on Thursday came back to haunt Arsenal as the Spanish side held out for a 0-0 draw at the Emirates Stadium in London to set up a UEFA Europa League final against Manchester United with a 2-1 victory on aggregate.
The defeat means the Gunners will miss out on the UEFA Champions League for a fifth consecutive season, with the pressure building on Emery’s successor Mikel Arteta.
Sitting ninth in the English Premier League, Arsenal are now on the verge of failing to qualify for Europe for the first time in 26 years.
Photo: Reuters
“We are devastated,” Arteta said. “We tried everything until the last minute. I think we deserved to win the game, but the details define these ties.”
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang twice hit the post for Arsenal, while Emile Smith Rowe sliced a glorious chance wide early in the second half.
“We had three big chances, they didn’t have anything, but they are through,” added Arteta, who was forced into a last-minute reshuffle when Granit Xhaka picked up an injury in the warmup. “So many things happened to us, and so many players were just trying to compete not at their best.”
Villarreal’s first European final prevented a clean sweep for English Premier League sides across the Champions League and Europa League.
The Yellow Submarine take on United in Gdansk on May 26, three days before Manchester City face Chelsea in the Champions League final on May 29.
That clash will be Emery’s fifth Europa League final, having won the competition three times with Sevilla and taking Arsenal to the final in his only full season in charge at the Emirates.
The Spaniard was sacked after just 18 months as Arsene Wenger’s successor, but again showed his experience at this level by guiding his side through, despite vastly inferior resources to his former club.
“I’m very proud because we know it is very important for us and Arsenal are a very good team,” Emery said. “Today we are thinking to enjoy this moment and then we prepare the match against Manchester United. We deserve to play this final and we will show our best performance. We want to fight against Manchester for this title.”
In Rome, United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said his side’s 3-2 semi-final second-leg defeat to AS Roma could have ended as a 6-6 draw and he praised goalkeeper David de Gea’s performance.
Solskjaer’s side already had one foot in the final before traveling to Rome after scoring five second-half goals in a 6-2 first-leg win at Old Trafford last week, but the return leg made for an open and entertaining encounter.
“It feels good. We played one very good half at Old Trafford, which brought us through,” Solskjaer told BT Sport. “I never like to lose a game, especially the way we did it, but it was always going to be one of these games that was going to be open, with chances for both teams. It could have been 6-6 or 8-6 to them. It was a strange game of football.”
Edinson Cavani scored twice for United either side of goals from Roma’s Edin Dzeko and Bryan Cristante, but an 83rd-minute Alex Telles own-goal gave the Italian side a consolation victory.
It could have been a more comfortable win for the hosts were it not for a superb display by De Gea, who made a string of outstanding saves, several from point-blank range.
“We kept losing the ball in difficult positions, but luckily we have got one of the best goalkeepers in the world and luckily we have a No. 9 who wants to score goals. Edinson and David, two top performances by them,” Solskjaer said.
“It’s a team effort. We’ve had some ups and downs. The second half was disappointing, very poor, but we’re in the final and we’re looking forward to May 26. It’s a one-off. Anything can happen, but we’ll prepare well,” he said.
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