Dalot salutes United's Euro heroes

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side had a task on their hands against the Spaniards in our first home game of Group F, but De Gea was the first-half lionheart keeping us in the match with a stream of outstanding saves.

The goalkeeper's world-class display created the platform for Ronaldo’s dramatic injury-time winner after Villarreal took a second-half lead that was cancelled out by a screaming equaliser from Alex Telles.

Right-back Dalot admitted it had been a hard night for the Reds.

“The fans can see it was a tough game for us, we knew they were a very good side and David De Gea had to come to our rescue on at least a couple of occasions in the first half. They brought him into action,” said our Portuguese defender, in a post-match press conference.

“The fans can also see we fought really, really hard to win the game. We suffered a bit in the game and found it a little bit harder in places than we wanted to but I think that fighting spirit right to the end made it a great occasion.

“Like everyone could see it was a difficult game against a very good team. We fought until the end with a good atmosphere at Old Trafford like always. We are so happy with the three points.

“When you have Cristiano in the team it is always a plus. Like I have said many times he is a fantastic player on and outside of the pitch. He gives us energy.

“But we are a proper team, we give to Cristiano also to give him these moments and as we have seen so many times he can be decisive until the end.

"It was a team effort and we are so glad that Cristiano could score that goal at the end. Villarreal are a very good team and defend well and tactically they are very good as well. They are good on the ball and we know it was going to be a difficult game. We tried our best and at the end what mattered was the three points."

Old Trafford certainly played its part upping the noise levels at 1-1 with the clock ticking. The stadium reached fever pitch as a full house at the Theatre of Dreams, witnessing the first Champions League action in front of our supporters inside M16 since the game against Barcelona in April 2019, urged the Reds forward and erupted as another fantasy storyline was completed.

"The fans bring great support when they get behind us," said Dalot. "It gives us extra energy that is clear for all to see. It was great to have them back on European nights."