The Villarreal Chronicle
Match21 Aug 2027
Nobody wins at Villarreal
16 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Luiz Júnior keeps Villarreal in it on his own
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Nobody could get near Tani Oluwaseyi
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
A defender's afternoon for Pape Guèye
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Boardroom23 Aug 2027
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Villarreal
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Tempers go at Villarreal
Gerard Moreno was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match21 Aug 2027
6 unbeaten for Villarreal
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Villarreal did not have in the autumn.
Player ratings23 Aug 2027
Alberto Moleiro was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.86. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
The terraces23 Aug 2027
The crowd has taken to Orri Óskarsson
At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
In brief
- Squad Logan Costa falls out with a teammate over standards
- Market Iván Serrano steps up from the Villarreal academy
- Market Villarreal promote Hugo Guerrero from within