Villarreal midfielder Francis Coquelin has said the team’s Europa League final victory over Manchester United last season was “revenge” against Sir Alex Ferguson, following comments dating back to Arsenal’s 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford in 2011.
Coquelin, who will face Liverpool in the Champions League semi-finals this week with Villarreal, made his Arsenal debut as part of an under-strength Gunners side in the infamous Premier League thrashing to Ferguson’s United.
Ferguson would later write in his autobiography that Coquelin “was completely out of his depth” in the defeat, adding: “I had hardly heard of him and he barely played again.”
But since leaving Arsenal in 2018, Coquelin has gone on to become an important player for Unai Emery’s Villarreal, leading to the Europa League final against Manchester United last season.
The Spanish side would win the match on penalties and Coquelin has revealed that Ferguson’s comments had given him additional motivation to win the match in front of the legendary Manchester United manager.
“It was a bit of revenge, because when I made my Arsenal debut we lost 8-2 at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson criticised me a bit in his biography, so it was a nice little turnaround to win the Europa League against them,” Coquelin told RMC Sport, as per Get French Football News.
“Plus I think he was in the stands as well, so lifting the trophy in front of him was nice. I was looking for him, he must have seen me.”
Villarreal have defeated Bayern Munich and Juventus to reach the last four of the Champions League and are unbeaten in two-legged ties under Emery over the past two seasons.
