On the site where Villarreal now have their training pitches, orange trees used to grow. The soil and the climate in this part of coastal Spain are helpful to citrus fruit, although, as with all the best produce, it takes careful seeding and hard work to put it to good use.
Villarreal have an excellent, envied playing surface at the Ceramica stadium, meticulously tended because smooth, slick grass is important for the type of football they like to play.
The stadium is no skyscraper. There’s room for 23,000, which is utterly disproportionate to the town. Vila-real’s population barely reaches 50,000, though the reach of the fanbase extends across the region and has swelled in very quick time.
Until the late 1990s, Villarreal had never featured in the top division of Spanish football, and although they have suffered two relegations since then, they bounced back to keep on gatecrashing the elite. In this century so far, Villarreal have been in five major European semi-finals.
Against Arsenal earlier this month, they finally triumphed in one, and the reward, on Wednesday in Gdansk, is a Europa League final that could hardly present a sharper contrast of scale.
“Manchester United are a giant,” said the Villarreal central defender, Raul Albiol. Old Trafford could accommodate every citizen of Vila-real and still have more than 25,000 tickets left spare. The trophy room at Villarreal houses a third division championship and some runners-up prizes; Manchester United have been English champions 20 times, and among their full set of Uefa trophies are three European Cups.
Suffice to say that when, in April, the controversial and now defunct plans for a European Super League were being drawn up by 12 superclubs, with United among the ringleaders, Villarreal’s president, a very successful local businessman named Fernando Roig, was not phoned to see if he fancied joining. Roig has funded his club generously; he has not turned them into a global corporate juggernaut.
Instead of an aura, Villarreal have expertise, and for Wednesday’s task they have a made-to-measure specialist. Head coach Unai Emery, who guided Arsenal to the Europa League final in 2019 before being sacked a few months later, answered Roig’s summons last summer. The club’s place in Europe was part of the attraction: Emery won the Europa League three times as manager of Sevilla.
He set about this season’s campaign with the same studious care as Villarreal’s groundsmen attend to the pitch at the Ceramica. “We’re proud of our Europa League journey,” Emery said. “We’ve been consistent, serious and credible. We set out to win the group, and after that you know you will have to eliminate big clubs, or else clubs who have themselves knocked out big clubs, like Dinamo Zagreb did.”
________________
Arsenal v Villarreal player ratings
-
ARSENAL PLAYER RATINGS: Bernd Leno 6 - The German goalkeeper didn’t have too much to deal with as he watched Villarreal’s best shooting opportunities go through comfortable channels for easy saves. AFP -
Hector Bellerin 7 - Frequent runs up the flank helped Arsenal advance up the field and the right-back looked to have assisted the opening goal before Aubameyang headed against the post. AFP -
Rob Holding 6 - No mistakes in defence and the defender almost opened the scoring after a powerful header went narrowly wide of the goal. PA -
Pablo Mari 7 - A good display in the air saw Mari deal with the majority of balls into the box. The 27-year-old also transitioned the ball well with balls out to the flanks. A stand-out performer on Thursday night. EPA -
Kieran Tierney 6 - The Scottish defender found Pepe with an intricate flick after the restart and looked brighter after Chukwueze was withdrawn. The 23-year-old’s pressure against Moreno may have kept the game in the balance when presented with Villarreal’s best chance of the game. Reuters -
Emile Smith-Rowe 8 - The 20-year-old understood the occasion and played with intent, getting into good areas and moving the ball on to maintain an aggressive tempo with Arsenal requiring a goal to go through. Almost scored after dinking narrowly wide of the post but was unfortunate to be on the losing side. Reuters -
Thomas Partey 5 - A sloppy foul on the edge of the box gave Villarreal a free kick in a dangerous area which began a difficult night for the Ghanaian who was isolated in midfield. Though Mikel Arteta can be forgiven for a more attacking line up with Arsenal requiring to win to advance. Reuters -
Nicolas Pepe 6 - The Ivorian winger clearly has the magic but Villarreal’s stubborn shape made it hard for both Arsenal wingers on the night. A frustrating evening. PA -
Martin Odegaard 6 - Kept the play ticking but not much else from the Norwegian attacking midfielder. Whether it’s cadence or chemistry, the on-loan Real Madrid midfielder isn’t shining much in Arteta’s system. Getty Images -
Bukayo Saka 6 - Looked to attack the Villarreal defence but the final ball of the young winger wasn’t there. A disappointing display from the winger who normally causes problems for the defence. AP -
Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang 6 - The woodwork wasn’t on the side of the forward with Aubameyang striking against the post on two occasions. The 31-year-old made the most of little service throughout the game but couldn’t find the net. Reuters -
SUBS: Gabriel Martinelli (Odegaard, 66) 6 - A positive move by Arteta but Martinelli seemed to face the same issues Pepe had with Villarreal isolating Arsenal’s attackers quickly. Getty Images -
Willian (Tierney, 80) N/R - Almost unnoticeable after being introduced in the 80th minute. Reuters -
Alexandre Lacazette (Aubameyang, 80) N/R - Just as isolated as Aubameyang was with Pau Torres and Raul Albiol keeping the Frenchman quiet. Reuters -
Eddie Nketiah (Bellerin, 91) N/R - Not much the forward could do with the game becoming stop-start in the final minutes. Getty Images -
VILLARREAL PLAYER RATINGS: Geronimo Rulli 5 - Almost made a mess of an Aubameyang shot in the first half and then nearly gifted a goal to Smith-Rowe when failing to deal with a cross. EPA -
Mario Gaspar 6 - Dealt well with Pepe who often tried to get at the defender. Could have supported Yeremi Pino more who looked to be struggling to create much on the right flank, though Unai Emery’s side were only interested in counter-attacks. AP -
Raul Albiol 7 - Alert to the danger as the Spanish centre-back looked to deal with Arsenal threats quickly and got in the way of a number of balls which asked questions of the Villarreal defence. Getty Images -
Pau Torres 7 - Commanded the defence well alongside Albiol with Arsenal rarely getting a chance to shoot inside the box on the night. Helped clear some crosses which Rulli didn’t look comfortable dealing with. AP -
Alfonso Pedraza 7 - A strong display on both ends of the pitch as the left-back defended well against a difficult matchup of Saka and Bellerin. AFP -
Francis Coquelin 6 - Careless play in the 70th-minute gave Arsenal a free-kick in a dangerous situation. A good block against Bellerin inside the box helped prevent what would have been a dangerous moment in the game for Villarreal. AFP -
Dani Parejo 6 - Came close with a freekick but spent the majority of the game defending and was often in the way of Arsenal attempts from outside the box. Reuters -
Manu Trigueros 6 - The 29-year-old is usually one of Villarreal’s stand-out players but he wasn’t as influential, with Arsenal applying pressure in the second half. Helped out the defence well against Arsenal’s overlapping runs. Reuters -
Paco Alcacer 6 - Worked hard and helped get the ball to Moreno but it was a quiet display overall from the forward. Eventually replaced by Carlos Bacca. Getty Images -
Gerard Moreno 6 - Could have put Villarreal in front but a tame effort rolled into the hands of Leno. A poor effort which the striker prioritised over passing to the overlapping run. AFP -
Samuel Chukwueze 7 - Warned Arsenal early on with a curling effort saved by Leno. The Nigerian winger was one of Villarreal’s brightest sparks before being stretchered off with an injury. Getty Images -
SUBS: Yeremi Pino (Chukwueze, 30) 6 - The 18-year-old worked hard but it was always a difficult task to replace the influence of Chukwueze. Looked bright in spells but didn’t really threaten Tierney. Reuters -
Carlos Bacca (Alcacer, 73) N/R - Not much to do with Villarreal defending the game out but worked hard for Unai Emery’s side. EPA -
Alberto Moreno (Alfonso Pedraza, 91) N/R - Introduced to help defend against Arsenal’s late flurry. Pedraza looked to be tired after a solid performance. Reuters -
Moi Gomez (Yeremi Pino, 91) N/R - On for the youngster who made his way back off the field with the midfielder on to see out the game. PA
________________
The Croatian side, who had beaten Tottenham Hotspur, ran into Emery's fine-tuned knockout experts in the quarter-finals, where Villarreal recorded their 11th and 12th wins of their European run. They have lost none, and drawn only twice, holding Arsenal goalless in London in the second leg of the semi-final, enough to preserve their 2-1 first-leg advantage.
Albiol scored what turned out to be the winning goal in that tie. Emery leans on his vast experience. The defender will be 36 in September, and has been around major finals for half a lifetime. He won two European championships and a World Cup with Spain, in addition to a Liga title and a Spanish Cup with Real Madrid and a Coppa Italia with Napoli, from whom Villarreal signed him two summers ago.
For Albiol, a classic duel with United’s veteran centre-forward is in prospect: the Spanish warrior against the thoroughbred 34-year-old Uruguayan, Edinson Cavani, once of Napoli, and until last October of Paris Saint-Germain.
“We all know what a great player Cavani is,” said Albiol, “and what a great goalscorer. I know how loved he was in Naples. He’s someone who plays football from the soul and it is no surprise to me that, whatever his age, he is still scoring goals. The only thing that surprised me last year was that, after he left Paris, he was without a club for any time at all. But he’s found the right club to go to.
“When you reach a final, you expect to come up against the best strikers. The key is keeping up your concentration, finding the right level of tension and we’ve had a good Europa League in terms of conceding few goals.”
In the eight knockout matches, they have let in just three.
“People will obviously make United the favourites, because of their history, the financial differences between our clubs,” Albiol conceded. “But we’ve really grown this season and we know our strengths.”
