Unai Emery and Villarreal face all-or-nothing Europa League final against Manchester United

Spanish manager, who won the competition three times in a row with Sevilla, is confident in his side's chances

Unai Emery is aiming to lead Villarreal to their first European trophy since the 2004 Intertoto Cup. AFP

Major finals always carry with them plenty of pressure but for Villarreal and their manager Unai Emery, the stakes will be especially high when they face Manchester United in Gdansk on Wednesday night.

A 2-1 defeat to Real Madrid, courtesy of two late goals, on the last day of the season saw Villarreal slip to seventh in La Liga and out of the Europa League places. It means victory in the Europa League final will not only ensure the biggest trophy in the club's history but also a place in next season's Champions League.

A win would also ease the pressure on Emery, who took charge at Villarreal last summer after the club placed fifth in La Liga and was given the remit of leading the team forward. Defeat, meanwhile, will see Villarreal settle for a place in Uefa's new, and less lucrative, Europa Conference League.

They face a tough task against a much-fancied United side, but Emery is backing his side to upset the Premier League giants.

"We respect United but we think we're capable of winning this trophy," said Emery last week. "We are going to play with the confidence we've shown throughout the whole competition."

Emery knows what it takes to win the Europa League, having triumphed three times in a row with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016, the last time by beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final in Basel. He also reached the final two years ago with Arsenal, only to lose to Chelsea.

"Manchester United were the favourites from the start to win this tournament and they've managed to reach the final," said Emery, who leads Villarreal into their first European final since the winning the 2004 Intertoto Cup. "There were other teams who were favourites and haven't done that but we have always seen ourselves as a contender."

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Arsenal v Villarreal player ratings

ARSENAL PLAYER RATINGS: Bernd Leno 6 - The German goalkeeper didn’t have too much to deal with as he watched Villarreal’s best shooting opportunities go through comfortable channels for easy saves. AFP

Hector Bellerin 7 - Frequent runs up the flank helped Arsenal advance up the field and the right-back looked to have assisted the opening goal before Aubameyang headed against the post. AFP

Rob Holding 6 - No mistakes in defence and the defender almost opened the scoring after a powerful header went narrowly wide of the goal. PA

Pablo Mari 7 - A good display in the air saw Mari deal with the majority of balls into the box. The 27-year-old also transitioned the ball well with balls out to the flanks. A stand-out performer on Thursday night. EPA

Kieran Tierney 6 - The Scottish defender found Pepe with an intricate flick after the restart and looked brighter after Chukwueze was withdrawn. The 23-year-old’s pressure against Moreno may have kept the game in the balance when presented with Villarreal’s best chance of the game. Reuters

Emile Smith-Rowe 8 - The 20-year-old understood the occasion and played with intent, getting into good areas and moving the ball on to maintain an aggressive tempo with Arsenal requiring a goal to go through. Almost scored after dinking narrowly wide of the post but was unfortunate to be on the losing side. Reuters

Thomas Partey 5 - A sloppy foul on the edge of the box gave Villarreal a free kick in a dangerous area which began a difficult night for the Ghanaian who was isolated in midfield. Though Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for a more attacking line up with Arsenal requiring to win to advance. Reuters

Nicolas Pepe 6 - The Ivorian winger clearly has the magic but Villarreal’s stubborn shape made it hard for both Arsenal wingers on the night. A frustrating evening. PA

Martin Odegaard 6 - Kept the play ticking but not much else from the Norwegian attacking midfielder. Whether it’s cadence or chemistry, the on-loan Real Madrid midfielder isn’t shining much in Arteta’s system. Getty Images

Bukayo Saka 6 - Looked to attack the Villarreal defence but the final ball of the young winger wasn’t there. A disappointing display from the winger who normally causes problems for the defence. AP

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang 6 - The woodwork wasn’t on the side of the forward with Aubameyang striking against the post on two occasions. The 31-year-old made the most of little service throughout the game but couldn’t find the net. Reuters

SUBS: Gabriel Martinelli (Odegaard, 66) 6 - A positive move by Arteta but Martinelli seemed to face the same issues Pepe had with Villarreal isolating Arsenal’s attackers quickly. Getty Images

Willian (Tierney, 80) N/R - Almost unnoticeable after being introduced in the 80th minute. Reuters

Alexandre Lacazette (Aubameyang, 80) N/R - Just as isolated as Aubameyang was with Pau Torres and Raul Albiol keeping the Frenchman quiet. Reuters

Eddie Nketiah (Bellerin, 91) N/R - Not much the forward could do with the game becoming stop-start in the final minutes. Getty Images

VILLARREAL PLAYER RATINGS: Geronimo Rulli 5 - Almost made a mess of an Aubameyang shot in the first half and then nearly gifted a goal to Smith-Rowe when failing to deal with a cross. EPA

Mario Gaspar 6 - Dealt well with Pepe who often tried to get at the defender. Could have supported Yeremi Pino more who looked to be struggling to create much on the right flank, though Unai Emery’s side were only interested in counter-attacks. AP

Raul Albiol 7 - Alert to the danger as the Spanish centre-back looked to deal with Arsenal threats quickly and got in the way of a number of balls which asked questions of the Villarreal defence. Getty Images

Pau Torres 7 - Commanded the defence well alongside Albiol with Arsenal rarely getting a chance to shoot inside the box on the night. Helped clear some crosses which Rulli didn’t look comfortable dealing with. AP

Alfonso Pedraza 7 - A strong display on both ends of the pitch as the left-back defended well against a difficult matchup of Saka and Bellerin. AFP

Francis Coquelin 6 - Careless play in the 70th-minute gave Arsenal a free-kick in a dangerous situation. A good block against Bellerin inside the box helped prevent what would have been a dangerous moment in the game for Villarreal. AFP

Dani Parejo 6 - Came close with a freekick but spent the majority of the game defending and was often in the way of Arsenal attempts from outside the box. Reuters

Manu Trigueros 6 - The 29-year-old is usually one of Villarreal’s stand-out players but he wasn’t as influential, with Arsenal applying pressure in the second half. Helped out the defence well against Arsenal’s overlapping runs. Reuters

Paco Alcacer 6 - Worked hard and helped get the ball to Moreno but it was a quiet display overall from the forward. Eventually replaced by Carlos Bacca. Getty Images

Gerard Moreno 6 - Could have put Villarreal in front but a tame effort rolled into the hands of Leno. A poor effort which the striker prioritised over passing to the overlapping run. AFP

Samuel Chukwueze 7 - Warned Arsenal early on with a curling effort saved by Leno. The Nigerian winger was one of Villarreal’s brightest sparks before being stretchered off with an injury. Getty Images

SUBS: Yeremi Pino (Chukwueze, 30) 6 - The 18-year-old worked hard but it was always a difficult task to replace the influence of Chukwueze. Looked bright in spells but didn’t really threaten Tierney. Reuters

Carlos Bacca (Alcacer, 73) N/R - Not much to do with Villarreal defending the game out but worked hard for Unai Emery’s side. EPA

Alberto Moreno (Alfonso Pedraza, 91) N/R - Introduced to help defend against Arsenal’s late flurry. Pedraza looked to be tired after a solid performance. Reuters

Moi Gomez (Yeremi Pino, 91) N/R - On for the youngster who made his way back off the field with the midfielder on to see out the game. PA

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Villarreal are also flying the flag for Spain as the one team that denied the English Premier League a clean sweep of European finalists, with Manchester City up against Chelsea in the Champions League final on Saturday.

If Villarreal defeat United, Spain will boast seven of the last 10 Europa League champions, the others belonging to Chelsea in 2013 and 2019, and United in 2017, when Jose Mourinho's side beat Ajax.

"The Premier League is dominating football in Europe," Emery said. "But to reach a final you always have to knock out big teams, or teams that have knocked out big teams themselves, like Dinamo Zagreb. Games like these are a challenge. They tell you what level your team is at."