Matchday LIVE: Villarreal’s Rulli saves De Gea penalty to win Europa League final at Man Utd’s expense

Villarreal v Manchester United

Cast your minds back to the start of the season and it is easy to remember just how brilliant the Red Devils were in their first European block of fixtures, seeing off last term’s beaten finalists Paris Saint-Germain and thrashing RB Leipzig in the Champions League.

But a slip-up against İstanbul Basaksehir turned their group into a death-trap, and they ultimately came in third, relegated to the Europa League knockout rounds.

As such, they have always sported the tags of favourites to a point – and their performances have mostly reflected that, with 4-0 aggregate wins over Real Sociedad and Granada coming either side of a tough test against Milan.

Their pinballing semi-final thriller against Roma – a two-legged encounter that finished 8-5 overall, including a 6-2 first-leg win – highlighted both their strengths in attack and underbelly in defence; a cautious reminder that, in Maguire’s absence, they will have a lot of work to do tonight.