Football Season Guide

Villarreal enjoyed their best season in 20 years last season as they secured a third-place finish and overtake Atletico Madrid in the race for the Champions League with an exciting brand of offensive football under Marcelino. There has been a change in the dugout as Marcelino wasn’t satisfied by a contract renewal offer, and Villarreal did well to secure the services of rising star Iñigo Perez. His overachievements with Rayo Vallecano, where he was previously assistant to Liverpool coach Andoni Iraola, have set him up well and his journey to the Conference League final caught the eye. His squad has changed little. Experienced squad options like Dani Parejo, Thomas Partey, Alfonso Pedraza and Rafa Marin have moved on, but Villarreal will likely field a very similar starting line-up to the one which ended last season. One name to watch will be Carlos Romero, who was one of the league’s best left-backs on loan at Espanyol over the last two years and returns this season to start for the Yellow Submarine. Perez faces a decision in goal, where Marcelino swapped between three goalkeepers last year and was blamed for conceding the highest number of goals among the top four. Diego Conde and Arnau Tenas have moved on, but Peter Gulacsi is an experienced rival for young Luiz Junior. Villarreal are a well-run club who have kept change to a minimum despite the swap in the dugout, and that stands them in good stead to progress in their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League for a third consecutive year.