Villarreal take on the visitors Barcelona in the round 21 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Sunday, February 12th at Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal).
Villarreal under Unai Emery left a rather controversial impression. Still, there were clearly more positives, because the victory in the Europa League brought the club the first truly serious trophy in history. In addition, it so happened to return to the Champions League, where the Spaniards were stopped only by Liverpool in the semi-finals - only once did they manage to break through so high. But with this coach in LaLiga, the “submariners” plunged lower and lower, up to 7th place in 2021/2022. Therefore, perhaps, the coach was not so retained when he was called to Aston Villa. The specialist who left for Birmingham was replaced by Quique Setien. He had a difficult start in a new place, but it seemed that he managed to squeeze the maximum benefit from a long break. “Villarreal” even Madrid “Real” beat, but in general began the winter segment with 4 victories in a row, including the cup. Then, however, Los Blancos took revenge in the Copa del Rey. And, most importantly, both last matches were lost in La Liga, not only with Rayo Vallecano, but also with Elche, which is the last one in the standings.
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Barcelona over the past month has dramatically raised their spirits. It is worth remembering that 2022 was a bad year for them. Even with the return of Xavi, already in the role of coach, Barca were left without a single title, and twice failed to qualify for the Champions League playoffs. It is noteworthy that on December 31, they could not win the derby with Espanyol, which is why they lost 1st place in LaLiga. But everything quickly changed in January - early February. They didn’t win only against Betis, in the Super Cup, but even there they managed to knock out Pellegrini’s wards on penalties, and then, having won 3-1 in El Clasico, took the title. In addition, they continue to advance in the Cope del Rey - there in the quarterfinals it was issued 1-0 with Real Sociedad. And, most importantly, against the background of the misfires of the “Galacticos”, Barca have 100% statistics already in 5 last rounds in a row. Last Sunday it turned out to defeat Sevilla 3-0. And there, Rafinha and Alba became unexpected heroes, each of whom scored a goal and recorded an assist.
At the end of last season, Villarreal won 2-0 away from home. But this was the only such success of the “submariners” since 2008. And in October, the Catalans took a convincing revenge, winning 3-0. Now Barcelona finally justifies its proud nickname in earnest. We bet that they will manage to victory in this match over their former coach.
Prediction for the match: Barcelona to win.
