With a 0-0 draw on the night at the Emirates, Villarreal have secured themselves their first-ever UEFA Europa League final in the clubs storied history. And with that, Unai Emery reached his fifth final of the competition in only eight years, winning three of those. Now, with Mikel Arteta and Arsenal out of the way, he will have to face another Premier League titan for the title – Manchester United.
The Red Devils have beaten their Serie A counterparts and could pose a serious threat to the Yellow Submarine. But how exactly did Villarreal secure their place in the grand final? This tactical analysis will aim to demonstrate both teams tactics to answer that question.
Lineups
Starting the analysis with the lineups, we can already see that there were some changes in both teams. Arsenal lined up in a 4-1-4-1 system that saw both full-backs replaced as Héctor Bellerín and Kieran Tierney joined the starting XI. With Dani Ceballos out of the picture due to suspension, we saw Thomas Partey as the lone pivot.
Bukayo Saka and Nicolas Pépé were the wide men again while Martin Ødegaard and Emile Smith-Rowe had more central roles. The biggest change from last week, however, was the return of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who was finally fit to start the game and lead the lines in attack.
Villarreal, on the other hand, retained their standard 4-4-2 structure with only two changes from last week. With the injury of Juan Foyth, Mario Gaspar was given a nod and with the absence of Étienne Capoue, Emery opted for Francis Coquelin right from the get-go.
The rest of the lineup was unchanged as it served the Yellow Submarine well in Spain and they were hoping for a repeat in England. Even though they were put under a lot of pressure, the defence held on for a well-deserved trip to the final.
