The game in Gdansk finished 1-1 after extra-time, following a close-range finish by Gerard Moreno in the first half and an Edinson Cavani leveller in the second period, when Marcus Rashford's strike was deflected into the Uruguayan's path.
With the match going to spot-kicks, every outfield player found the net successfully, leaving the keepers to step up and there was agony for the Reds as Villarreal's Geronimo Rulli scored and then saved the 22nd shot from his counterpart David De Gea.
Here are the key discussion points from our difficult night in Poland…
NOT TO BE
United were hoping to add a seventh European trophy to our collection, four years on from our last, but having got so close it wasn’t to be.