The "Yellow Submarine" soared to become a Champions League seed team

On May 26, local time, Villarreal won the Europa League title Courtesy of Xinhua News Agency

In the early morning of Beijing time on the 27th, the 2020-2021 Europa League final was held in Gdansk, Poland, and La Liga powerhouse Villarreal fought Manchester United 1-1 in 90 minutes, defeating the opponent through the penalty shootout with a total score of 12-11, and the "yellow submarine" won the championship trophy for the first time with an unbeaten record. Villarreal has also written his name into the history of European competition, becoming the city's least populous (52,000-person) European championship-winning club and reaching next season's Champions League. Manager Emery, on the other hand, has won the Europa League four times, becoming the manager with the most Europa League titles.

When it comes to "yellow submarines", veteran fans may think of the Argentine midfielder Riquelme of that year. Yes, the classic striker has left a series of classic scenes in Villarreal, but the team's best result is only the final four of the competition. Although Cazorla's strength is outstanding, because the overall strength of the "yellow submarine" still has a certain gap with the traditional European giants, the team will not go too far whenever it comes to the knockout stage of the competition. Of course, it should not be forgotten that the current Guoan striker Bakambu, who played for Villarreal for two seasons from the 2015-2016 season, contributed 23 goals.

But this season, Emery has made all that happen, with the La Liga boss "rooting" in Villarreal after returning to La Liga after leaving Arsenal. Although he still can't shake the three-legged pattern of La Liga, in the European competition, he uses the most practical playing style and steady performance to lead the team step by step to the top. He once led the team to win the Europa League three consecutive titles in Sevilla, and this time in the "Yellow Submarine", he led the team to win the first major championship trophy in the history of the team. Having won the championship four times, Emery's title of "Europa League Professional" is worthy of the name.

It is worth mentioning that Villarreal, with 52,000 people, also became the least populous European championship winning club in the city, and in 1988, Belgium's Marinas won the European winners, with a population of 75,000.

With Villarreal winning the Europa League, La Liga will have five teams in the Champions League next season. According to the rules, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Barca and Sevilla have already qualified for next season's Champions League because they have won the top four in La Liga. Now that Villarreal have won the Europa League, they will also qualify for the Champions League, in addition, they will also be seeded. Text/Reporter Zhang Kunlong