After 120 minutes failed to separate Manchester United and Villarreal, the two clubs went to a penalty shootout to decide the Europa League final.
What happened next was simply incredible, as both sides made their first 10 penalties before Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli beat David De Gea and then saved his counterpart’s subsequent spot kick to hand the Yellow Submarine their first-ever major trophy!
Here’s how social media reacted to Villarreal’s dramatic upset victory.
And yes… 𝙄𝙏 𝙒𝘼𝙎 𝙊𝙐𝙍 𝙏𝙄𝙈𝙀!!! 💛
This is for everyone who has been part of Villarreal history.
💛 𝗘𝗨𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗔 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗠𝗣𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 💛 pic.twitter.com/1ouR7LdBJ9
— Villarreal CF English (@Eng_Villarreal) May 26, 2021
VILLARREAL ARE EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 🥳🏆
Their FIRST major title in club history 🤯 pic.twitter.com/zUjspQrgIA
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 26, 2021
Let’s check in with former Villarreal attacker and the pride of New Jersey Giuseppe Rossi…
Que orgullo ser groguet!! Felicitaciones a un gran club, un gran equipo gran aficion y a la familia Roig! Sois campeonesssssss!!!! 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛 @VillarrealCF
— GIUSEPPE ROSSI (@GiuseppeRossi22) May 26, 2021
As penalty shootouts go this is pretty bloody good.
— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) May 26, 2021
As our Mark Ogden points out it has been quite the barren run for David De Gea when it comes to penalty shootouts:
Can’t blame De Gea for the penalty miss, but he’s now failed to save his last 35 spot-kicks. He didn’t look like saving any either. With all the info keepers now have on penalties, that’s just not good enough for a keeper of his reputation
— Mark Ogden (@MarkOgden_) May 26, 2021
Tuanzebe and James went straight over to console De Gea after his missed penalty.
Class 👏❤️ pic.twitter.com/NxIpD87io7
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) May 26, 2021
One of the many things Emery said in the ESPN interview with @fernandopalomo : penalties are not luck.
— Sid Lowe (@sidlowe) May 26, 2021
When do the managers take?
— Graham Hunter (@BumperGraham) May 26, 2021
Villarreal beats Manchester United in the UEFA Europa League Final, securing the first major title in club history.
They are the 7th team in UEFA Cup/Europa League history (since 1971-72) to lift the trophy without a single loss in European competition that season. pic.twitter.com/TMddYiIpmA
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 26, 2021
Unai Emery has now won the #UEL four times, the most by any manager in the history of the UEL/UEFA Cup.
This is his competition. 🏆 pic.twitter.com/R5XMB53VK3
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) May 26, 2021
Emery is now 4-1 in Europa League finals. His only loss?
Chelsea Football Club.
The only team who have beaten Unai Emery in a UEL Final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/P1pwTZlg2p
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) May 26, 2021
Villarreal’s first-ever trophy triumph means a lot to everyone involved but how about star centre-back Pau Torres, who was born in the town of Villarreal and joined the club in 1996 at age six! What a journey!
We take it again. This is Pau Torres in 1997 he was born in Villarreal a town of only 50,000, at the age of 6 he joined the clubs youth teams. Today he was vital as his Villarreal won their first ever trophy and became the team from the smallest town to ever win a European title! pic.twitter.com/VwgDA1bXl2
— Alexandra Jonson (@AlexandraJonson) May 26, 2021
Has anyone checked in on Diego Forlan? Is he happy? Sad? Seemed rather torn pre-match.
De gala, ya listo para la final de la @EuropaLeague… 😂 pic.twitter.com/4VXDDOXKao
— Diego Forlán (@DiegoForlan7) May 26, 2021
