Villarreal vs Man United: Solskjaer Admits He Wanted to Substitute De Gea Before Penalty

- Villarreal vs Man United caused heartbreak for Solskjaer who has now admitted he wanted to substitute David de Gea before the shootout of their Europa League final

- Solskjaer resolved to let the keeper stay on as he had confidence in him having made proper preparations

- The contemplation to sub off De Gea was informed by his previous penalty records, having failed to save any in five years

- The Spaniard went on to cost Man United the title as he shipped in all of Villarreal's 11 spot-kicks, missing his own which was crucial

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has admitted he considered subbing off David de Gea in favour of Dean Henderson as Man United's Europa League final meeting with Villarreal headed into the shootout.

De Gea, who has had an awful penalty record was subsequently allowed to play a part in the crucial stage of the encounter as Villarreal claimed a 11-10 victory in Gdansk, Poland.

According to Daily Mail, the United shot-stopper has not saved a single penalty in five years, with his last save coming against Everton in the FA Cup final back in 2016.

Solskjaer has now come out to reveal he contemplated replacing the Spaniard with his no.2 who has a considerably better penalty record.

Henderson stopped Man City's Gabriel Jesus from 12 yards while on loan with Sheffield United and has also made crucial saves in the past.

Speaking after the match, the Norwegian said his decision to let the keeper to stay on because he had confidence in the Spain international.

"You go through every scenario, of course, and it had crossed my mind in the build-up to the game [de Gea’s penalty record] but we were confident in David and prepared," Solskjaer said.

"Anything can happen in a penalty shootout. I stuck with the 'keeper who played all of the game. I've got to say the penalty shootout was high quality, but we didn't do enough in the 120 minutes to score more goals and that's the disappointing bit," he added.

De Gea, meanwhile, went on to ship in all of Villarreal's 11 spot-kicks, with his own which was decisive being saved by his opposite number.

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Bruno Fernandes could not hold back his tears after Manchester United lost to Villarreal in the Europa League final on Wednesday, May 26.

Man United were strong favourites to clinch the trophy against a side whose town in Spain only has a population of 51,000.

Both Villarreal and United played out a 1-1 draw in Gdansk, Poland, after regulation time, with neither side finding a winner even after 30 minutes of extra time.

The encounter had to be decided via an epic penalty shootout which saw all outfield players convert their spot-kicks.

Geronimo Rulli was the hero for Villarreal after saving his fellow goalkeeper David De Gea's spot-kick to put an end to the marathon between the two sides.