Second doesn't count for nothing: Rashford after Europa League final defeat
May 27, 2021
Gdansk [Poland], May 27 : Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford has said his club cannot remain content with coming second and they need to do everything right in order to win more and more titles.
Villarreal defeated Manchester United on Wednesday (local time) to win their first major Europa League title. This is the Spanish club's first major title in their history. Villarreal defeated United 11-10 in penalties to lift the Europa League title.
"People say a lot about Man Utd going downhill, blah, blah, blah, blah but for me, the club, desire, hunger, talent, ability, the squad, we have everything to compete at the highest level. We just have to show it to the world and ourselves, show why we belong in the top places and why we need to win finals like this," Rashford told BT Sport, as reported by Goal.com.
"Second doesn't count for nothing. Manchester City win the league, we finished second. Doesn't mean nothing. Villarreal won the Europa League, we finished second. For us it's nothing. I don't want to hear 'they were so close' because it means nothing. One winner, one loser. Today we lost. We have to find out why and make sure next time we don't lose," he added.
Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea ended up missing the decisive penalty in the shootout and this gave Villarreal a famous victory in the final. The normal football match saw a 1-1 draw being played and as a result, the match went into a penalty shootout.
In the shootout, the first 21 penalties combined by both the teams were successfully converted, but as United goalkeeper De Gea missed his spot-kick, Villarreal got the victory.
This is United's sixth loss in seven shootouts and Unai Emery (Villarreal manager) won a record fourth Europa League crown. Manchester United had finished the 2020-21 Premier League season at the second spot behind Manchester City.
