Date & Time: 22nd September 2024, 6:30 PM CET
Venue: Estadio de la Ceramica
Competition: La Liga 2024/25
With Barcelona having gone through their first defeat of the 2024/25 season, they do not have the time to ponder upon what went wrong against Monaco. What stands in their way is a challenging away game against Villarreal which will be a real test of the Catalan’s mettle under Flick.
The best way to respond to their defeat on the European stage is to continue on their imperious run of form in the league and make it a resounding 6 out of 6 wins in La Liga. A win against Villarreal will surely propel the morale within the Barca squad.
Villarreal’s Style of Play
Under the management of the very familiar face in Spanish football of Marcelino, Villarreal play an offensively oriented brand of football. However, what stands out about them is that they tend to stride away from dominating possession of the ball.
Villarreal like to defend deeper in their half instead of counter pressing the opposition whenever they lose possession of the ball. This allows their opposition to maintain pointless possession of the ball in their own halves. However once they cross into Villarreal’s half, Marcelino’s side apply unrelenting pressure to win the ball.
Adapting a 4-4-2 system, Villarreal are most gifted in their midfield department where they possess highly skilled technical talents both centrally and on the flank. Therefore, this enables them to create chances in abundance for their competent front line to pounce on.
Villarreal’s Recent Form
Having gone through 5 league games thus far, the hosts are yet to taste defeat in the 2024/25 season. They have been able to accumulate a total of 3 wins and 2 draws in these 5 games, which has propelled them to 4th place in the league standings where they are tied on points with Atletico Madrid.
Villarreal’s draws compose of a 2-2 result against Atletico Madrid and a 1-1 scoreline against Valencia. The Yellow Submarine has been able to hand 2-1 defeats to both Sevilla and Mallorca. Additionally, their most enticing matchup was against Celta whom they defeated 4-3 thanks to Dani Parejo’s late heroics.
Villarreal’s adventurous style of play has allowed them to be La Liga’s 4th best scoring team with a total of 11 goals scored. However, this has come at a defensive cost as they have the worst defense amongst the top 5 with a total of 8 goals conceded. This is good news for Barcelona as they will be able to dominate the possession against a team with its fair share of defensive struggles.
Villarreal’s Threatening Talents
In Villarreal’s midfield, the experienced technical mastery of Dani Parejo will prove to be the Catalan’s primary source of resistance in their ability to utterly dictate the tempo of the match in central areas. Parejo offers not only ball retention abilities, but is also an elite chance creator and a sensation from set piece scenarios.
Moreover, Alejandro Baena’s exploits from the left flank allow Villarreal to have a presence out wide. Baena is Villarreal’s primary playmaker who is in the form of his life as he has already compiled 2 assists and provides an absolutely ridiculous 4.5 key passes per game.
To finish off these scoring opportunities, Villarreal’s top scorer in Ayoze Perez has proven to be immense with his total of 3 goals. In the absence of Gerard Moreno due to injury, Perez gives them a cutting edge up front.
Barcelona vs Villarreal Recent H2H Results
Barcelona 3-5 Villarreal (La Liga 2023/24)
Villarreal 3-4 Barcelona (La Liga 2023/24)
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona (La Liga 2022/23)
Barcelona 3-0 Villarreal (La Liga 2022/23)
Barcelona 0-2 Villarreal (La Liga 2021/22)
