By Bulldog Drummond
Arsenal have played Villareal – now of course managed by Unai Emery – four times and we remain unbeaten. All four matches were during Mr Wenger’s tenure and within the Champions League.
| Date | Match | Result | Score | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 Apr 2006 | Arsenal v Villarreal | W | 1-0 | Champions League |
| 25 Apr 2006 | Villarreal v Arsenal | D | 0-0 | Champions League |
| 07 Apr 2009 | Villarreal v Arsenal | D | 1-1 | Champions League |
| 15 Apr 2009 | Arsenal v Villarreal | W | 3-0 | Champions League |
This season Villarreal have slipped a little…
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlético Madrid | 33 | 22 | 7 | 4 | 60 | 22 | 38 | 73 |
| 2 | Real Madrid | 33 | 21 | 8 | 4 | 56 | 24 | 32 | 71 |
| 3 | Barcelona | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 76 | 29 | 47 | 71 |
| 4 | Sevilla | 33 | 22 | 4 | 7 | 49 | 26 | 23 | 70 |
| 5 | Real Sociedad | 33 | 14 | 11 | 8 | 51 | 34 | 17 | 53 |
| 6 | Real Betis | 33 | 14 | 8 | 11 | 42 | 45 | -3 | 50 |
| 7 | Villarreal | 33 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 50 | 38 | 12 | 49 |
| 8 | Granada | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 41 | 53 | -12 | 42 |
And their results of late have been rather mixed…
| Date | Competition | Home | Score | Away |
| 11/04/21 | League | Villarreal | 1 – 2 | Osasuna |
| 15/04/21 | Europa | Villarreal | 2 – 1 | Dinamo Zagreb |
| 18/04/21 | League | Levante | 1 – 5 | Villarreal |
| 21/04/21 | League | Deportivo Alavés | 2 – 1 | Villarreal |
| 25/04/21 | League | Villarreal | 1 – 2 | Barcelona |
Meanwhile their results in the Europa League opening phase show wins against Qarabag and Sivasspor, along with a win and a draw against Maccabi Tel Aviv. In the round of 32 they beat Red Bull Salzburg twice, and had the same double victory over Dynamo Kiev in the round of 16.
That was repeated once more in the quarter finals with two wins over Dinamo Zagreb, so despite being only seventh in the Spanish League they have remained unbeaten in the Europa.
However leaving aside the Intertoto cup they have never actually been to a final in Europe.
In Spanish League terms they are normally regarded as a team liable to come fourth or fifth and reach maybe the quarter finals of the Copa del Rey. They did have one season in the second division (2012/13) and also dropped to 14th for 2018/19, but last year rebounded to 5th.
In 2016/17 they got to the semi final Europa League, but were knocked out 3–1 on aggregate by Liverpool. Villarreal led the first leg 1–0, but lost at Anfield.
Their star attacker is Gerard Moreno, who has scored 26 goals this season. Also in the team is our old chum Francis Coquelin, the youngster discovered by Arsene Wenger, who I was very sorry to see let go from Arsenal.
In the League as we can see above they are 21 points off the top, which sounds a lot until we remember that we are 31 points off the top of the Premier League – in which case it doesn’t seem so bad.
Indeed a comparison between the two clubs in terms of league games shows that the teams are evenly matched domestically with Villareal just having the edge.
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 10 | Arsenal | 33 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 44 | 37 | 7 | 46 |
| 7 | Villarreal | 33 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 50 | 38 | 12 | 49 |
And the matching remains quite close when we also come Villarreal at home with Arsenal away
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 6 | Villarreal CF home | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 28 | 19 | 9 | 25 |
| 8 | Arsenal away | 16 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 25 | 17 | 8 | 24 |
So nothing can be taken for granted.
Football: the great reform bill and the breakaway
- Football: the huge problem that simply will not go away
- Football does not have to be torn up and replaced (as the media suggests)
- The problem beyond Superleague is the secrecy of the Premier League
- The Trotskyist model fans and journalists desire for running football has failed
- Super League v Premier League: now the real war begins
- Superleague. The key question the media utterly refused to ask, let alone answer
- Breakaway clubs face largest football PR and political disaster of all times
Off topic.
What a surprise!!!!
It’s official, Arsenal have been on the end of more dodgy VAR calls than any other team.
https://www.101greatgoals.com/news/latest-premier-league-var-stats-suggest-technology-has-favoured-arsenal-the-least-this-season/
Us Gooners are hoping, wishing and praying for Arsenal us will see the Gunners play tomorrow night in their Europa League Cup 1st leg semifinal match away to Villarreal as if their lives to survive depend on their winning the match for Arsenal and win it unfailingly.
And in the actual sense of reality, Arsenal season to be a good and successful this season is heavily anchored on the Gunners winning the Europa League Cup which if the Gunners succeeded at doing it, will see Arsenal through to participate in the UCL next season as them attaining this limited special achievement for Arsenal through the Premier League top-four place finish this season is looking to be seriously in doubt.
Of course the Gunners themselves and their manager Mikel Arteta know this very well more than anybody who has something to do with Arsenal as a staff or supporter. And therefore they need not being reminded of the charge on them to win the ELC for Arsenal FC this season.
Nevertheless, I wish Arteta and his coaching staff team to have a match winning Gunners team selection that will play against Villarreal and beat them in the match to give themselves and us Gooners the confidence us will see Arsenal through to the final of the competition after the return 2nd leg match has been played at the Ems with Arsenal beating Villarreal again.