Fernando Roig, who has been Villarreal president since 1997 and was a huge part of their rise from obscurity, will have to miss arguably the biggest game in their history today.

He flew to Gdansk on a private jet but Uefa said not enough time had passed since he caught (and recovered from) Covid.

"Given it was impossible to share this historic occasion with the rest of the travelling party from the inside, the president has decided to return to Spain," Villarreal said in a statement.

Manchester United

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, speaking to BT Sport: "It is a special day for everyone at Manchester United, all the way back to Sir Matt's birthday of course.

"I feel good, looking forward to it. It is the worst time really because all the work is done, we are just waiting for the boys to express themselves, go out and show what they are capable of.

"I have two very good goalkeepers but David has played the quarter-finals and semi-finals. It is reward for his hard work.

"We prepared the same as we have done every other game. Fred has unfortunately been injured in the week leading up to the game. He trained last night but was OK to be on the bench. He was disappointed not to start, that is the hard bit of being a manager.

"We have to trust ourselves. Play with courage, play with confidence. Be the best version of ourselves."

Neil Lennon
Former Celtic manager on BBC Radio 5 Live

Paul Pogba is going to have to be disciplined but he is a big-game player. We saw that in the World Cup final.

He has to step up now. He can't always be the clown and the entertainer to the crowd. He's got to play the lead role for me tonight.

Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes says he is "honoured to be compared" with club legend Eric Cantona and is embracing that "good pressure".

The 26-year-old Portugal international has scored 40 goals in all competitions in the season and a half since he signed.

"It is an honour to be compared with him because the impact he had was really high and he won many major trophies with the club," Fernandes told BBC Sport.

"But when you are compared with this kind of big player it means you need to be better every day. It makes me work harder to keep in the mind of the people, being compared with him. That, for me, is a good pressure.

"It is clear as water. Football has no past.

"If you are not doing well in the present, people forget about what you have done in the past.. We see players making history in football for many years and still they get shouted at."

Image source, .

Taking on Lawro this week was singer and United fan Tom Grennan.

"Solskjaer has had a lot of criticism at different times since he took charge of United but I always thought he deserved a proper chance to prove himself, and he has done that this season.

"Being United boss is a tough job. Everyone just needed to settle down and let him get on with it.

"Ole has sussed out what the players he had were all about, and what else he needed. It took him time to work out who should play where, and it feels like he has done that now.

"He has grown into the role and put his own stamp on this team. I used to see him as a substitute teacher, when he needed to be the headmaster, but he has got the authority he needs now."

Tom's prediction: "United to win 2-1. I'm not nervous. We can win the game late on if we have to and, even if we go behind, we have fought back so many times to win already this season so no-one will panic if that happens in the final."

Mark Lawrenson
BBC football expert

I remember going to watch Villarreal a lot in the years they were doing well and were in the Champions League, but this side is not a patch on the one they had back then, in the 2000s.

Unai Emery has plenty of experience of winning things, however. This is his fifth Europa League final, and he won three of them with Sevilla, getting the better of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in the 2016 final.

He could come up with a masterplan this time but, ultimately, who wins on Wednesday is going to come down to who has the better players.

Villarreal got past Arsenal in the semi-finals but I don't think their attack is going to cause United too many problems.

Emery's strength as a coach is all about defensive organisation, but I just think United will have too much for them. They have got the better players, and more of them - they just need them to turn up, and most of them will.

Lawro's prediction: United to win 2-0. It might be closer than that, but they will be stronger on the bench if they need to make any changes, and they will find a way to win.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will contest only his second final in his managerial career, having won the 2013 Norwegian Cup with Molde. Solskjaer would be the first Norwegian manager to win a major European trophy.

This is Manchester United's eighth major European final, the second-most of any English club after Liverpool (14).

They have been crowned winners in five of the previous seven finals, losing only against Barcelona in the Champions League in both 2008-09 and 2010-11.

Neil Lennon
Former Celtic manager on BBC Radio 5 Live

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had a problem with the goalkeeper situation. For me personally I'm not sure that Dean Henderson has done enough to be a stick-on number one goalkeeper going forward.

David de Gea has the class, and Ole is looking for his big name players to stand up here, and De Gea can do that.

Former United manager Alex Ferguson has travelled to Poland with the team for this game - and will be part of the trophy presentation.

Current United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored to help Ferguson's United win the 1999 Champions League exactly 22 years ago.

Also on this date - in 1909 - Matt Busby, who led the team to their first European Cup, was born.

Dion Dublin
Former Man Utd and Aston Villa striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

It can't be 0-0, surely? This is so important to Manchester United and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. This is the best chance they'll get, in my opinion.

They will have a few problems at the back, but they've got to get over the line tonight. It is huge for Manchester United.

Villarreal and United are meeting for the fifth time... but neither team have scored yet.

Each of the previous four meetings finishing 0-0 in the Champions League between 2005-06 and 2008-09.

Villarreal are not La Liga giants by any means.

They only reached the top flight for the first time in 1998, having been in the fourth tier in 1990-91.

The Yellow Submarine's 'trophy cabinet' consists of one Third Division title and two Intertoto Cups.

Villarreal's modern European pedigree is not bad however. They have reached five semi-finals (including the 2005-06 Champions League) - but this is their first final.

Villarreal fans were having a good time earlier in Gdansk.

Peter Schmeichel
Former Manchester United goalkeeper on BBC Radio 5 Live earlier today

It would show massive progress in the work that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done

I think Ole needs to win a trophy now, and that would be good for him.

As a manager, I feel that Ole gets an incredible amount of unfair criticism. I don't think he's acknowledged as a good manager yet. I think he's done well in very difficult circumstances.

He's taken them into the Champions League places two years running and now this Europa League final. For United to win that would be big for Ole and for some of the players as well, because winning breeds winning.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says a Manchester United win over Villarreal in the Europa League final could be a "stepping stone for a big future".

Solskjaer, a Champions League winner with United as a player, has yet to win a trophy since taking charge of the club in 2018-19.

"This is a team that we've rebuilt in the last few years. Hopefully this is the start of something more," he said.

"This is the best club in the world.

"That's the pleasure and the pressure of Manchester United. That's something the players are ready for. They wouldn't have signed here if they weren't top players.

"These are big nights for us. It might be the stepping stone for a big future.

"This group of players has been working for a year and a half together. The next step for them is to enjoy a game like this - I've seen something growing inside of the players."

Dion Dublin
Former Man Utd and Aston Villa striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

I don't think Manchester United will get a better chance to win a trophy under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Apart from Harry Maguire he has put out a very attacking side and he's got some game changers on the pitch. This is it. Manchester United should win this game - they have to win it really.

The players are more than good enough to win this game.

One player forever associated with the European glory, glory, nights of Manchester United is the late great George Best.

Best, who died aged 59 in 2005 after struggling with alcoholism, would have been 75 last weekend.

To mark the date, we took a look at how he left Old Trafford for Dunstable Town in one of football's most remarkable moves.

Read more on the George Best story here.

Image source, Rex