Villarreal are in the knockout stages of the Champions League for only the third time in their history. Can they challenge Juventus?

Villarreal is quite a phenomenon. The team from a city of only 50,000 inhabitants regularly tops La Liga and plays for cups. Now, for the third time in its history, it has reached the knockout stages of the Champions League, where it will face Juventus. Can he beat them?

For Villarreal fans, football is everything. The Estadio de la Céramica holds 23 500 people, almost half the city. There is always a boisterous atmosphere in the stadium, which is not easy to play in. The Madrid teams know this well from recent times, Real only drew 0:0 ten days ago, and in January Atlético only took a point from the Céramica for a 2:2 draw.

Last year, coach Unai Emery made Villarreal’s history forever. With the yellow submarine he managed to dominate the Europa League, the first major trophy in the club’s history. He also secured qualification for the Champions League, where the eastern Spanish side reached for only the fourth time in its history.

In the 2011/12 season, the club already failed in the group stage, but the previous participations were something else. In 2008/09 Villarreal reached the quarter-finals and in 2005/06 they even reached the semi-finals. Now he has a third chance in the knockout stage of the most famous club competition.

However, Juventus are a difficult obstacle in its way. The Old Lady made a huge boost in the winter by bringing in goalscorer Dusan Vlahovic. The coach of the Yellow Submarine also knows the strength of his opponent.

“Juventus is a team that deserves all our respect. They are the most successful team in Italy and they know how to win the Champions League. They have great players, Dusan Vlahovic has scored 18 goals this season. They are very capable and extremely hungry,” Emery said at a news conference.

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri had the same respect for his opponent.

“The duel is not a foregone conclusion. Villarreal are in good form right now, just like us. They are a technical team with a great coach. It will be a very tactical match where we will have to pay attention to details and be patient,” explained Allegri.

And who do Juventus have to watch out for? Definitely Arnaut Danjuma, who scored a hat-trick against Granada at the weekend. He has 8 goals in the league and 4 more in the Champions League. The big loss is the injury to key striker Gerardo Moreno, but Giovani Lo Celso is getting into good form, but his start is also uncertain due to injury.

Villarreal can traditionally rely on the conductor Dani Pareja and a strong defensive line dominated by Pau Torres. The Nigerian winger Chukwueze is also dangerous and oozes extreme speed and dynamism, but he lacks even better numbers to break through completely.

Source: UEFA