Villarreal opened their account for this La Liga (LL) campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Mallorca last Friday. Coach Quique Setién was happy with the outcome and the clean sheet, indicating post-match that the “plan has gone perfectly” as the Yellow Submarine come to terms with key summer departures at both ends of the pitch.
With Barcelona up next, Setién needs his team to continue that winning momentum to change his dire record (W1, L7) against his former employers. It certainly won’t help his nerves knowing that Villarreal have won just one of their last 28 LL H2Hs (D6, L21), or that their tally of 28 H2H defeats is the club’s worst record against any single team in the top-flight history of the club.
Minutes away from starting their LL campaign with consecutive goalless draws, Barcelona found late inspiration to overcome a stubborn Cádiz 2-0 last weekend. Summer signing İlkay Gündoğan was the architect of the breakthrough with a sublime assist for the deadlock-breaking strike, before manager Xavi declared him a “cornerstone of the team.” Xavi will miss this game owing to a red card from the season opener, but the biggest absence could be the injured Pedri, who opened his account last weekend and also scored the lone goal in this corresponding fixture last season.
A visit to the Estadio de la Ceràmica may not appear daunting, at least on paper, as the visitors have avoided defeat in their last 14 LL away H2Hs (W10, D4) as part of their impressive recent record against Villarreal. A little piece of history also awaits Barça, as they stand two goals away from becoming the first club to reach 100 top-flight goals against Villarreal.
Players to watch: Gerard Moreno became Villarreal’s all-time record goalscorer with his winning strike against Mallorca. However, he laments a dubious personal record against Barcelona, having picked up his most yellow cards (five) and losses (12) against them. Another record-breaker has been Lamine Yamal who became Barcelona’s youngest starting top-flight debutant in the last match. After two rounds, he recorded the second-most touches in the opposition box, although he’s yet to score or assist.
Hot stat: Villarreal boast the league’s best win rate since the start of last season when kicking off as the outsiders (55% – W6, D1, L4).
