Villarreal's Champions League fairytale has exposed Manchester United failings

Nearly 11 months ago, Manchester United faced Villarreal in the Europa League final in what was Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's first final with the club and his best opportunity to win a trophy. The game was long and turgid, going into extra time and then penalties, with neither team really wanting to lose rather than having a desire to win.

But the night ended in heartbreak, all outfield players scored their penalties and so the goalkeepers had to reverse their roles and step up to the sport. Geronimo Rulli scored his penalty; David de Gea did not.

Many fans and football experts talk about how winning a trophy is incredibly important to a team's mentality, it can become the driving force that bonds a team and inspires them to win more. United fans will unfortunately remember this being the case with Liverpool, who won the Champions League and then went on to win their first Premier League title.

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For Villareal, this seems to be the spark that has ignited them under Unai Emery. They had struggled during the 2020/21 season and were set to miss out on the Champions League — but winning the Europa League guaranteed their place in this season's competition.

And now having beaten Bayern Munich, after knocking out Juventus, Emery and his team are in the semi-final of the Champions League and are set to face Liverpool for a place in the final. Meanwhile, United, who lost the final, have gone very much in the opposite direction.

The Europa League final was seen as the culmination of everything Solskjaer had done to that point at Unite. Alongside a second-placed finish in the Premier League, it could have hopefully acted as a launching