Super Eagles attacker Samuel Chukwueze got injured and had to leave the pitch on a stretcher as Villarreal beat Arsenal to book a place in this year’s Europa League finals yesterday night.
The Nigerian seemed to be injured around the abdominal area and had to leave the pitch on a stretcher with youth squad Yéremi Pino replacing him in the 28th minute. The injury seems to be a reoccurrence of a groin injury that kept him out of the yellow-Submarine’s squad for a few weeks earlier in the year.
The 22-year-old had to undergo surgery in Munich, Germany in February.
Meanwhile, a Edinson Cavani brace was not enough as Manchester United stumbled to a 3-2 loss away to Roma but the Red Devils will join Villarreal at the finals following a 8-5 aggregate score line against the Italians.
The temptation is to talk about the nourishing strike partnership of Gerard Moreno and Paco Alcácer. Or Raúl Albiol, the World Cup winner who has, aged 35, been utterly magnificent this season. Pau Torres? An exceptional left-footed passer. But it’s impossible to ignore the impact of Unai Emery. A Europa League winner three times, runner-up with Arsenal a couple of seasons ago – he was signed to take Villarreal to a final and look what he’s done.
Emery can adapt according to circumstances and opportunities, but this season Villarreal have alternated between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 depending on the situation or opponent. Set plays are important, careful husbandry of possession too. But central to this version of the Yellow Submarine is that Emery will analyse to millimetric depth and instruct his team accordingly.
Spanish international Moreno is in the form of his life, sheer class in his finishing, brimming with confidence. This category should be his and his alone, but then there is Raúl Albiol. The defender has returned from several years in Serie A ever more competitive, smarter, oozing leadership, brilliant in the air, and looking several years younger than his passport age.
Last season’s semi-final defeat by Sevilla hurt Ole Gunnar Solskjær and his players. United had paid a heavy price for their profligacy – and are determined not to make the same mistakes this time, as evidenced by their ruthless first-leg display against Roma as they look to end their longest run without a trophy since the 1980s.
Read Also: UEL: Villarreal Wins Arsenal, As The Gunners Gets A Vital Away Goal
Solskjær normally sets his team up in a 4-2-3-1 formation but has been known to deploy a 3-4-1-2 system, and has even experimented with a 4-4-2 diamond.
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