Villarreal goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli scored the decisive spotkick and saved his counterpart David de Gea’s attempt as they claimed their first European title by beating Manchester United 11-10 on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the Europa League final on Wednesday.
In the first European final to be played in front of a crowd in two years amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Villarreal survived a tough second half to give coach Unai Emery a record fourth title in the competition, leaving United without a trophy since their Europa League triumph in 2017.
Gerard Moreno stretched to reach Dani Parejo’s free kick and steered the ball past De Gea to open the scoring in the 29th minute, only for United to level when Edinson Cavani poked the ball home after collecting Marcus Rashford’s deflected shot on 55 minutes.
After no goals were scored in extra time, all outfield players scored their penalties and Rulli coolly beat De Gea before saving the United keeper’s spotkick.