Villarreal will play their eighth official match in England with three previous results that would serve them to reach the final
ANDl Villarreal will play the pass to the final in London this next Thursday where he will travel with the meager advantage that the victory gives him by two goals to one in the first leg. The La Plana team has a wide range of international experiences after almost two full decades competing in continental tournaments, and between them they accumulate a good number of duels in English territory. With mixed luck to date and almost always against powerful teams, the yellows add three previous results that would serve them to achieve their ambitious goal (with victory against Everton and two draws against United), one that would send them to the extension (2-1 loss to City) and three others who would bury their dreams of playing the final (two against Arsenal itself and one in Liverpool).
You have to go back to the Champions League season 05/06 to find his first match on English soil. This was in the previous phase when the team trained by Manuel Pellegrini debuted on British territory with a victory against Everton by a goal to two thanks to goals Figueroa and Josico. In the return leg, the yellows did good the result when they beat the “toffees” again by two goals to one, thus qualifying for their first Champions League.
In that same competition, on November 22, 2005 the submarine drew 0-0 at Old Trafford against a Manchester that had in attack with the powerful hat trick formed by Rooney, Van Nistelrooy and Cristiano Ronaldo. A more meritorious draw if possible since the yellows came to meet the low of their two highest stars at that time: Riquelme and Forlán. As an anecdote, the current delegate of the team, Xisco Nadal, had minutes in the final stretch of the game.
That same season the yellows would fall in the first leg of the semifinals played in Highbury against Arsenal with a goal from Kolo Toure that, in the end, was key in the outcome of the tie.
Villarreal would return to English territory in 2007/08 and did so on a field already known as Old Trafford. In the “theater of dreams”, the Castellón would repeat results to equalize without goals
Months later they would visit what will now be the stage where they will play the option of reaching their first European final: the Emirates Stadium. Conditioned by injuries a few days before the tie of their two referents at that time, Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla, the Castellón suffered their worst defeat in England: 3-0
In the Champions League for the 2011/12 season, An unfortunate memory for the Castellón club due to their relegation to Second Division, with Juan Carlos Garrido on the bench, the La Plana team visited the Etihad to face City. A goal from Agüero in discount deprived the yellow team from adding a point, which fell by two goals to one.
The last Castellón precedent in England dates back to the 15/16 season, with Marcelino García Toral as yellow coach. On that occasion it was to visit another “temple” of British football such as Anfield and with a bad memory for the tilemakers who, that night, lost the option of reaching a European final. After winning 1-0 in the first leg, Bruno’s own goals, Sturridge and Lallana, buried the vila-realense dream
