Position
Villarreal CF have shown two different sides this season: In La Liga, the club from the province of Castello are in fourth place behind Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona. In the UEFA Champions League, the situation was already hopeless before matchday 7. That is why coach Marcelino rotated his team against Ajax. Even with a win, his team would have had no chance of reaching the play-offs. Nevertheless, Villarreal were the better team for an hour in their 2-1 defeat at home to the Dutch side. However, after taking the lead through striker Tani Oluwaseyi, Ajax managed to turn the game around in the final half hour. Villarreal thus remained in penultimate place in the table and, alongside Kairat Almaty and Slavia Prague, were the only team yet to win a game.
In their fifth Champions League appearance, the ‘Yellow Submarine’, as the club is known due to their yellow jerseys and a special connection with the Beatles song Yellow Submarine, picked up their only point against Juventus (2-2). In the other six games, the Spanish side lost to Tottenham Hotspur (0-1), Manchester City (0-2), Pafos FC (0-1), Borussia Dortmund (0-4), FC Copenhagen (2-3) and, most recently, Ajax.
Villarreal's position in La Liga is completely different: After 20 games, the team led by captain Gerard Moreno have 13 wins, two draws and five defeats. With 41 points, the club from the east of Spain are once again clearly on course for the Champions League. Last weekend, however, Villarreal lost 2-0 at home to Real Madrid in the top match thanks to two goals from superstar Kylian Mbappé, although coach Marcelino emphasised the good defensive performance of his players: "We managed to ensure that Real only had a few chances. We played well in defence, both collectively and individually. But we lacked luck." And yet the 60-year-old also knows his team is currently "in a negative phase". The 2021 Europa League winners have recently suffered three defeats in a row. Villarreal have won just three of their last ten competitive matches (with six defeats and one draw). Among other things, the Yellows were eliminated in the Copa del Rey by second-division side Racing Santander (1-2) and also lost 2-0 in the other top match in La Liga against Barcelona and by the same score against Real Betis, a direct rival for the European qualification places.
Personnel
In the final game of the league phase against the Werkself, coach Marcelino will have to manage without the suspended full-back Santiago Mourino as well as centre-backs Logan Costa (cruciate ligament rupture) and Juan Foyth. The latter suffered a torn Achilles tendon in the 2-0 defeat against Real. The Argentina international, who became a World Cup winner with the Albiceleste in 2022 together with Bayer 04 midfielder Exequiel Palacios, will require surgery. Centre-forward Pau Cabanes (cruciate ligament rupture) is also sidelined for Wednesday.
In central defence, Foyth was replaced against Real by Rafa Marin, who recently played alongside Renato Veiga in the centre of defence in the Champions League. Both Marin (on loan from Napoli) and Veiga (new signing from Chelsea) have quickly developed into regular starters under Marcelino. Pape Gueye is also a key figure in the Yellows' game. The 27-year-old midfielder recently won the Africa Cup of Nations with Senegal and was named man of the match in the final against Morocco with his wonder goal to make it 1-0 in extra time. At Villarreal, Santi Comesana or Dani Parejo, who at 36 is the oldest player in the squad, usually play alongside him in midfield. The most prolific goalscorer in the team is Alberto Moleiro, who usually plays on the left flank and has netted eight goals in La Liga. However, the Spaniard has yet to score in the Champions League.
Marcelino has plenty of highly talented strikers to choose from. Georgian Georges Mikautadze arrived from Lyon last summer and is the club's new record signing. The centre-forward has scored seven times in 24 matches for the Yellows. Tani Oluwaseyi, Ayoze Pérez, the team's top scorer last season with 19 goals, and captain Gerard also feel most at home in the centre of the attack. Gerard, 33, is a club legend, having played for Villarreal youth teams and he returned to the Yellow Submarine in 2018 after spells at RCD Mallorca and Espanyol. The Werkself should also watch out for the Spaniards' right wing, which is often used by Ivorian Nicolas Pepé and Canadian Tajon Buchanan.
Problems
Villarreal have scored just five goals in their seven matches in the current Champions League campaign. Only Cypriot club Pafos FC and Slavia Prague have scored fewer. The Spaniards have kept a clean sheet in four of their seven games. They created good opportunities in almost all games, but Villarreal's 4.8 per cent chance conversion rate is the second lowest in the UCL after Slavia Prague.
Performers
The Spaniards' goal drought in the Champions League is surprising given the quality of their attack. Last season, Villarreal not only had the third-best attack in the Spanish top flight behind champions Barca (102) and Real Madrid (78) with 71 goals, but they also set a new club record. And in the current season, the Yellows have also scored the most goals after the Catalan league leaders, Real and Atletico with 37 goals from 20 games. Coach Marcelino, who had previously been in the dugout at Villarreal between 2013 and 2016, took over the big club again at the end of 2023 and has ensured consistency and a good balance ever since. With 21 goals conceded, the defence is currently one of the best in La Liga. Only the two clubs from Madrid (17 each) have conceded fewer goals.
