Villarreal – Football Flame

Rafa Marin on the Brink of Moving to Villarreal

15Jan

By Silver Emmanuel1 Comment

TRANSFERS

Rafa Marin on the Brink of Moving to Villarreal

Rafa Marin of SSC Napoli looks on during the Serie A Enilive match between ACF Fiorentina and SSC Napoli at Stadio Artemio Franchi on January 04, 2025 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Giuseppe Maffia/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Rafa Marin has decided to leave Napoli and accepted a loan back to La Liga, more precisely to Villarreal. The Real Madrid product was signed in a convoluted deal but didn’t convince Antonio Conte afterward, Corriere dello Sport informs (via MSN). The defender paid the price for a pair of subpar showings but more importantly the late arrival of Alessandro Buongiorno and the switch from 3-4-2-1 to 4-3-3, which limited his opportunities. He didn’t resurface even after the former Torino star suffered a back injury, as the coach picked Juan Jesus over him.Marin wil...

Real flirts with winning ways again with victory over Villareal

6Oct

By Silver Emmanuel3 Comments

LALIGA

Real flirts with winning ways again with victory over Villareal

An early Federico Valverde strike helped Real Madrid to a 2-0 home win against Villarreal in LaLiga on Saturday as Carlo Ancelotti’s men returned to winning ways after two games without a victory. Real took the lead in the 14th minute with a stunning long-range shot by Valverde following a Luka Modric corner, before Brazilian forward Vinicius Jr sealed the win in the 73rd with an unstoppable strike into the top corner from outside the box. The defending champions were in need of a positive performance after losing 1-0 at Lille in the Champions League on Wednesday and being held to a 1-1 stalemate at Atletico Madrid in their previous LaLiga game. Real, second in the standings, provisionally moved level with Barcelona on 21 points before the LaLiga leaders visit 11th-placed Alaves on Sunday....

Real Madrid vs Villarreal line up: Ancelotti drops a big name

5Oct

By Silver EmmanuelNo Comments

LALIGA

Real Madrid vs Villarreal line up: Ancelotti drops a big name

Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti will drop a big name from his starting line up as Kylian Mbappe is reintroduced against Villarreal in La Liga on Saturday. LILLE, FRANCE - OCTOBER 02: Carlo Ancelotti, Head Coach of Real Madrid, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD2 match between LOSC Lille and Real Madrid C.F. at Stade Pierre Mauroy on October 02, 2024 in Lille, France. (Photo by Michael Regan - UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images) At a prematch press conference in the Spanish capital on Friday afternoon, Ancelotti noted that the visitors who were the last team to top his men at the Bernabeu have been "doing very well" thus far this season, with tonight's fixture providing Los Blancos with "an opportunity for us to reconnect, to play good football again....

Barcelona beat Villarreal 5-1 with the help of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha

23Sep

By Silver Emmanuel2 Comments

LALIGA

Barcelona beat Villarreal 5-1 with the help of Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha

Forwards Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha both scored twice to help Barcelona thrash hosts Villarreal 5-1 on Sunday as the visitors maintained their perfect start in La Liga with a sixth consecutive victory. Lewandowski found the net twice inside 35 minutes before Villarreal pulled a quick one back through Ayoze Perez but Pablo Torre made it 3-1 after the break and Raphinha completed the rout for Barca with two goals late in the second half. On Saturday, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti said he was delighted with his side’s play and resiliency in their clash against Espanyol, fighting back to win 4-1 after falling behind due to a rare blunder by their goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Ancelotti praised his players’ poise under pressure as they dominated proceedings, earning a win thanks to go...

Villarreal vs Barcelona: Preview, predictions and lineups

22Sep

By Silver Emmanuel2 Comments

LALIGA

Villarreal vs Barcelona: Preview, predictions and lineups

Barcelona are looking to bounce back from a disappointing Champions League defeat this Sunday when they travel to Villarreal in La Liga. After a perfect start to the Hansi Flick era, the Catalan giants were handed their first setback on Thursday evening as they fell to a 2-1 defeat against Monaco in their first European outing of the season. An early red card for Eric Garcia proved costly, with Lamine Yamal's first Champions League goal not enough to save Barca. However, Flick's side have won all five of their La Liga matches to date and are guaranteed to finish the weekend at the top of the table, regardless of results elsewhere or their own at Villarreal. The Yellow Submarine have been in good form themselves at the start of the 2024/25 campaign and sit just four points off Barca. They ...

‘It’s a big game for us’ – Marcelino relishing taking on Barca & Yamal

21Sep

By Silver EmmanuelNo Comments

LALIGA

‘It’s a big game for us’ – Marcelino relishing taking on Barca & Yamal

Villarreal boss Marcelino has been talking about Barcelona ahead of Sunday’s La Liga clash between the two sides at La Ceramica. Head coach of Villarreal CF, Marcelino Garcia Toral, during the La Liga match between Valencia CF and Villarreal CF at Mestalla Stadium in Valencia, Spain, on August 31, 2024. (Photo by Jose Miguel Fernandez/NurPhoto via Getty Images) Barca head into the match top of the league and face a Villarreal side who have also enjoyed a start season and are looking forward to the game. “It’s a big game for us. We are playing against a great team, the best in the league at the moment. That’s what the results and the numbers say. We’re going to play a very nice game with great expectation,” he told reporters. “These are the kind of matches that we professi...

Villarreal go third as Sevilla seal first win of 2024/25

15Sep

By Silver Emmanuel2 Comments

LALIGA

Villarreal go third as Sevilla seal first win of 2024/25

Saturday’s La Liga action featured three early wins on the return from the September international break. Prior to the day’s final clash, as Real Madrid rallied late on to win 2-0 at Real Sociedad, their were victories for Villarreal, Espanyol and Sevilla. Mallorca 1-2 Villarreal Villarreal have been one of the form teams in the opening weeks of the 2024/25 season and they stretched an unbeaten run to five games in Palma. Logan Costa netted his first goal for the club, to ensure an early breakthrough, before Mallorca were given a route back into the contest, via Raul Albiol’s second half own goal. However, Villarreal have found themselves a man for the clutch moments in the opening weeks of the campaign, as Ayoze Perez clipped home the winner in added time. The former Premier League star n...