Villarreal CF in European football
| Club | Villarreal CF |
|---|---|
| First entry | 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup |
| Last entry | 2015–16 UEFA Europa League |
Villarreal CF, a Spanish football club, has played in European football since 2002, in the Intertoto Cup, UEFA Cup, Champions League and Europa League.
2005–06 UEFA Champions League
The 2005–06 season brought the club considerable European success and recognition, due to their consistent performances in the Champions League. In the qualifying round stage, Villarreal controversially defeated English side Everton with a 4–2 aggregate score with two 2–1 victories. In the group stage, Villarreal were to be in the same group as Portuguese champions Benfica, French club Lille, and England's Manchester United. Remaining undefeated throughout the group stage, Villarreal were twice victorious (1–0 each against Benfica away and Lille at home) and earned four draws, including two scoreless draws with Manchester United. They topped their group and progressed to the knock-out stages along with Benfica. The club progressed to the quarter-finals in their Champions League debut by defeating the Scottish club Rangers 3–3 on the away goals rule (a 2–2 draw in Glasgow and a 1–1 draw at home gave the Spanish side one more away goal than their opponents).
El Submarino Amarillo drew Italian giants Internazionale in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The first leg was played at the San Siro on 29 March 2006. Playing at the San Siro, Diego Forlán scored inside the first minute of the match, but Villarreal lost 2–1 as Inter took a lead to the return leg at El Madrigal on 4 April. Villarreal, however, continued their unbeaten home record in the Champions League as they beat the Italian giants 1–0 in the second leg to qualify for the semi-finals on the away goals rule (the tie ended 2–2 on aggregate, but because of Forlán's goal in Milan, Villarreal advanced). During that game, left-back Rodolfo Arruabarrena turned a back header from Juan Román Riquelme free kick past Inter's goalkeeper Francesco Toldo to score the decisive goal of the tie. In the semi-finals, Villarreal narrowly lost out to Arsenal on a 1–0 aggregate scoreline following Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann's save of Juan Román Riquelme's last-minute penalty. Villarreal signed Robert Pirès from Arsenal in the summer following their Champions League semi-final defeat. Pires starred for the club until his departure at the end of the 2009–2010 season.
2006–07 season
The 2006–07 season started very badly but Villarreal were able to qualify for the UEFA Cup after eight consecutive wins. "The Yellow Submarine" was 13th after Round 30 of La Liga, but they climbed to finish fifth at the end of the season.
2008–09 UEFA Champions League
The club automatically qualified for the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, due to them finishing second in La Liga the previous season. They drew Manchester United, for the second consecutive campaign, Celtic, and Aalborg BK. They made a good start by holding current European champions Manchester United to a goal-less draw at Old Trafford, a third 0–0 draw in a row against the English giants. A first win was sealed on 30 September by beating Gordon Strachan's Celtic 1–0 at El Madrigal, courtesy of a Marcos Senna free-kick. On 21 October, during a Champions League match against Aalborg, they scored six goals to three. The Spaniards went through to the knock-out stage after drawing 2–2 with Aalborg in Denmark and drawing goalless once again against the Lancastrian "Red Devils", on the last group-stage match, they lost to an already eliminated Celtic.
In the knock-out stage, they faced Panathinaikos, who left Villarreal with a 1–1 away advantage, despite this the Greeks were to lose 1–2 in Athens. Villarreal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two tries, and were once again paired with Arsenal. The first leg saw a 1–1 draw by a free-kick by Marcos Senna, equalised by an Emmanuel Adebayor volley. Theo Walcott, Emmanuel Adebayor, and Robin van Persie secured a 3–0 win for Arsenal on the return, knocking Villarreal out of the tournament.
2009–10 UEFA Europa League
For the 2009–10 season, Villarreal competed in the UEFA Europa League, defeating NAC Breda of the Netherlands by a 2–9 aggregeate victory in a qualifier. They shared Group G with Levski Sofia, who they defeated 1–0 in the opening game, and with Lazio and Red Bull Salzburg. They came 2nd in that group, behind Red Bull Salzburg. Consequently, Villarreal was drawn against VfL Wolfsburg (who had dropped out of the UEFA Champions League) in the Round of 32. Playing at home first, Villarreal secured a 2–2 draw. In the return leg at Wolfsburg's Volkswagen Arena, however, Villarreal would succumb to defeat by a 4–1 scoreline.
2010–11 UEFA Europa League
Despite finishing outside of a European qualifying spot in the domestic league, Villarreal was given a place in the qualifying round of the 2010–11 Europa League after UEFA determined that RCD Mallorca's financial irregularities precluded them from taking part in the tournament.
A 5–0 home win and a 2–1 away win against Dnepr Mogilev qualified them for the group stage. Villarreal suffered an early setback following a shock 2–0 loss in their away fixture against Dinamo Zagreb. Despite this, wins against Zagreb, Club Brugge and PAOK saw them top their group.
After beating Napoli, Bayer Leverkusen and FC Twente in the knockout phases, Villarreal qualified for the semi-finals to face tournament favourites F.C. Porto. After taking a 1–0 lead in Estádio do Dragão, Porto made a remarkable turnaround that ended in a 5–1 defeat. Although Villareal won the second leg with a 3–2 win, Porto's first leg goals saw them advance to the final where they beat S.C. Braga to be crowned champions. Giuseppe Rossi finished as the tournament's second top goalscorer with 11 goals, behind Porto's Falcao.
Matches
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References
- ↑ UEFA Champions League 2005/06 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
- ↑ UEFA Europa League 2007/08 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
- ↑ UEFA Champions League 2008/09 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
- ↑ UEFA Europa League 2009/10 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
- ↑ UEFA Europa League 2010/11 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
- ↑ UEFA Europa League 2014/15 - History - Villarreal – UEFA.com
External links
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