Many Manchester United fans immersed in an unpleasant dèjà vu feelings of missing out in yet another finals of any competition under their current boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after four semi-final defeats.
Interestingly, Solskjaer and United were already in a commanding position of the Europa League semi final having won the opening leg 6-2 at Old Trafford.
The fear of another premature elimination from the finals must have promoted the Norwegian tactician to call on his players to maintain their momentum by playing with confidence heading into a hectic period of four games in eight days.
Though Solskjaer and his side fell to a 2-3 defeat against Roma on the night, but they were able to progress to face Villarreal at the Gdansk Arena in Poland in the finals after Unai Emery and his Spanish side overcame Arsenal in the other semi-final following a goalless draw at the Emirates.
Edison Cavani was quick to extinguish any faint hope of a turnaround for Roma in the Italian capital when the Uruguayan extended Manchester United lead (39) but quickfire second-half goals from Edin Dzeko (57) and Bryan Cristante (60) put Roma in front.
Cavani again notched his second of the night with a trademark header (68) before 19-year-old Nicola Zalewski settled the game on the night to cap an entertaining second leg – but United were able to progress to their eighth European final leaving many Red Devils fans in the ecstasy of playing in another European competition finals since 2017.