Manchester United’s players will be wishing they could play the Europa League final against Villarreal all over again.
Instead sadly you only get one shot and United’s players blew it.
There were several factors to the poor performance. One of them was simply that key players did not turn up or made key errors.
Some did well. Edinson Cavani and Scott McTominay in particular were standout performers for good reasons.
Here is a look at four players who stood out for bad reasons, and disappointed on a depressing evening for United…
Victor Lindelof
Since Harry Maguire got injured, Victor Lindelof has probably been Manchester United’s worst centre-back.
The Swede needed a huge performance on the level of his display away to AC Milan. Instead he played like he did against Fulham a week ago.
Lindelof’s biggest flaw has always been defending set pieces and aerial balls and he was culpable for Villarreal’s goal, when Gerard Moreno outsmarted him.
The Swede has had his moments this season, but this is the second year in a row he has been found wanting as United crash out of Europe, just like Sevilla last year.
If United are serious about improving, then the team need to upgrade in central defence.
Marcus Rashford
The biggest problem with Marcus Rashford is not that he is a bad player, he is just playing injury and he is out of form.
Rashford actually created three chances, but watching him play tells a different story to the positive statistics his display generates.
The England ace is erratic, loses possession too often and too cheaply, and offered nothing going forward in the final 50 minutes of the game.
Rashford may have scored 21 goals this season, but just one of those came in his last 10 matches. He lost form at the wrong time.
Bruno Fernandes
If ever United needed a big performance from Bruno Fernandes it was last night. Unfortunately he couldn’t deliver.
It wasn’t through lack of effort, but Fernandes was too easily shut down by Villarreal. Perhaps he suffered from Paul Pogba playing in a deeper role.
Fernandes failed to create a single chance and managed just 79 touches in 120 minutes. Even his penalty only just squeezed in.
It was a night to forget for Fernandes, who has hit such high standards this season. 28 goals and 18 assists is staggering, we just wish he saved one more for the final.
David de Gea
Expectations were low for David de Gea heading into the penalty shootout as he has a terrible spot kick record.
But even then he managed to underwhelm. He failed to save a single one of 11 penalties and rarely got close.
He couldn’t redeem himself by scoring one himself, and on that miss, United’s dream of silverware ended.
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