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It has been years since the Spanish team Villarreal played in the Champions League semi-final. On the evening of April 25, 2006, at the Villarreal "El Madrigal" stadium, London's Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saved a penalty kick from opponent Juan Roman Riquelme and the gunners danced for joy a few minutes later. If the Argentine had scored more accurately, "Villarreal" could have fought against "Barcelona" in the final in Paris.
However, this season "The Yellow Submarine" was unable to repeat similar victories – the club withdrew from the "Intertoto" competition already in the summer, losing to Slovenian "Maribor", and currently occupies only 12th place in the Spanish championship.
Nevertheless, despite the declining results, Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini does not lose optimism: "This is football reality. Everything changes quickly. Many things or factors determine whether your team will succeed or not. This season is very difficult, but we will continue to fight for a place in the UEFA Cup tournament."
Villarreal's strategist says he has not forgotten the matches with Arsenal: "That defeat affected and exhausted us psychologically more than physically. When you don't make it to the final because of such small details. Recovery takes a long time. These years are a transitional period and we will reconsider the club's goals and opportunities."
M.Pellegrini cites injuries to key players as one of the reasons for the unsuccessful season – Nihat Kahveci, Robert Pires, and Gonzalo Rodriguez were unable to help the "Yellow Submarines" for a long time due to injuries. In February, one of last season's leaders, J.R.Riquelme, was loaned to the Argentinian club "Boca Juniors", having very little impact this season due to conflicts with the coach.
"This club has its philosophy on how to achieve positive results. We always give young, talented footballers the opportunity to reveal themselves and prove their worth, and we give them all the opportunities to improve. We must continue to adhere to our policy and remain thoughtful, as the club's management looks to the future. We must create a competitive team again without spending like other European clubs, so in this case, we often choose affordable South American talents," explained M.Pellegrini.
Last Sunday, Villarreal beat the Barcelona team 2-0 in the Spanish championship and stirred up the race among the leaders for the title.
"The process of waiting for results will not disrupt the established relationships in this club, and that is important. This is one of the things that drives us forward," said M.Pellegrini optimistically.
