Previewing Real Madrid's Opponent Villarreal Ahead Of La Liga Clash
On Saturday evening, Real Madrid will return to action when they travel east to face Villarreal on matchday 21 of the 25/26 La Liga season. Real Madrid are on alert with a relegation release clause reportedly revealed.
So, what can we expect from our hosts? Let's take a look.
As it stands, Villarreal are having their best-ever domestic campaign. They have 41 points from the first 19 games, their best record at the halfway stage of a La Liga campaign. They are seven points behind Los Blancos, having played one game fewer.
Which makes their UEFA Champions League record all the more baffling. The Yellow Submarine have picked up just one singular point from their seven games - the same as Kazakhstani side Kairat - and sit in 35th place of 36 in the league phase, with their elimination already confirmed despite one game still to go.
Nevertheless, unfortunately for Real Madrid, this is a domestic game, and not a Champions League clash. So the host's current body of work in La Liga is more relevant to this game until proven otherwise.
Left winger Alberto Moleiro is the team's top scorer in the league, with eight strikes - a tally that can only be bettered by Kylian Mbappe from Real Madrid players, and only three others in the entirety of the league.
So, if Federico Valverde is once again deployed as a right-back, he will have a tough task on his hands. Moleiro is not the only threat, however. Indeed not, as strikers Gerard Moreno and Georges Mikautadze, as well as right-winger Tajon Buchanan, all have five league goals this season too. A nice spread across the team.
In fact, those four players could be Villarreal's front four this weekend, with manager Marcelino often opting for a 442 shape. There are also options in winger Nicolas Pepe and versatile forward Ayoze Perez, who scored 19 times in La Liga this season, which really showcases the hosts' strength in depth.
You may be surprised to hear that former Real Madrid midfielder Dani Parejo is still going strong at 36, featuring in 16 of the team's 19 La Liga games this season, albeit half of those have been from the bench.
Should the veteran start in this game, he may be partnered by Pape Gueye, who scored the winner in Sunday's incredibly dramatic AFCON final against Brahim Diaz's Morocco side.
At the back, Marcelino seems to have settled on a central defensive duo of Renato Veiga and Juan Foyth. The full back pairing varies, but we could expect to see Pau Navarro and Alfonso Pedraza start in this one. Right-back Santiago Mourino is suspended. Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Junior should continue in goal.
Possible Villarreal XI: Junior; Navarro, Foyth, Veiga, Pedraza; Buchanan, Parejo, Gueye, Moleiro; Mikautadze, Moreno (c).
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Tom Vinall is a sports writer covering Real Madrid On SI. Previously, he had worked at FanSided as both a contributor and site expert, covering the likes of Spurs and Bayern Munich. He has also previously written for Transfer News Live. Tom was born and lives in Bristol, South West England, and loves to listen to music as well as learning Spanish.
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