Villarreal: Villarreal have enjoyed an excellent La Liga campaign so far, sitting third with 41 points from 19 matches (13 wins, two draws and four defeats), seven points behind Real Madrid and eight off leaders Barcelona, with a game in hand on both. a win today would be a real statement in the title race. Marcelino’s side have been outstanding at home, collecting 25 points from 10 matches at La Cerámica, but their European season has been a major disappointment. A 2-1 defeat to Ajax confirmed their Champions League elimination, with Villarreal managing just one point from seven games and finishing near the bottom of the table. Real Madrid: Real Madrid arrive in strong form after a dominant 6-1 win over Monaco in the Champions League and a 2-0 victory over Levante in La Liga, results that have closed the gap from Barcelona to just one point. Real has also been impressive away from home, picking up 21 points from 10 league matches on their travels, and will be looking to move top of the table before turning their focus to their final Champions League league-stage game against Benfica. last time Real lost at the La Cerámica was at January 2023. Team News: Villarreal: Villarreal will be without five players for today's game, as Willy Kambwala (hamstring), Logan Costa (knee), Pau Cabanes (knee), Santi Comesaña (suspended) and Santiago Mouriño (suspended) are all unavailable. Real Madrid: Real Madrid receive a boost with Rodrygo and Brahim Díaz both back in training, the former returning after missing the last three matches through injury and the latter rejoining the squad following Morocco’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign. Aurélien Tchouaméni will miss the match due to suspension(5 yellow cards), while Trent Alexander-Arnold (thigh), Éder Militão (hamstring), Ferland Mendy (hamstring) and Antonio Rüdiger (knee) are all ruled out. Predicted line-ups:
Probably not 100%. Is Rodrygo really back? I know he trained, but from what I heard, he did it seperately.
Villareal are proper awful. Marcelino practically called the club bankrupt last week, that they are being financially out muscled by Championship teams, despite being a Spanish CL club. It's sad but I truly feel Spanish football is at an all time worst state.
Financially it's only gonna get worse as English football revenue will keep going higher. Villarreal are 3rd in La Liga while have just one point in CL on par with Kairat and behind Slavia Prague. Just awful.
I give it a 70% chance that Real Madrid drops points today. Being this close to the top of the table is allergic for this team. This team is about to get rocked. Defense is garbage as always. #reversejinx
Aston Villa now have revenue greater than AC Milan and Juventus, that's insane! In all of my time supporting Aston Villa, I would have never thought that that would be the case. View attachment 322121
I agree on the financial point but Villarreal is a small club historically. Their city population is 55,000 people. Their stadium is smaller than Kairat's stadium. What Villarreal have done in the 21st century is amazing and a success story for La Liga.
They are a well run club and usually re-invest well after selling. Sold players for 105 ME last summer and bought for 102 ME. 15 clubs below them from last season usually only sell without having money to reinvest even 40%. One of the worst ever performance by a Spanish team in CL this campaign though by Villarreal. Marcelino probably wanted a diversion from that, but finances shouldn't be an excuse for doing worse than Prague, Pafos, Bodoe, Union St, Brugge etc in CL.
I'm assuming that Deliotte Money League, I'm pleasantly surprised seeing VfB Stuttgart cracking the top 20.
No, I just happen to *know ball* The model for a sustainable Bundesliga business is build near industrial giant. Get into partnership with the industrial giant, be the main source of entertainment for people employed near and around the industrial giant. Makes clubs like Stuttgart, Leverkusen and Wolfsburg always ready to pounce when there's an oppening while "still being around" for the time being.
Very important match this. If we manage to get the win in Villareal it puts us 10 points clear of Villareal and Atleti, and 2 points ahead of Barca. Villareal has been very good at home though...
You might be able to explain or know why better than I do, but similar reasoning has always made me feel like Eintracht Frankfurt should be a more consistently successful club than they are. I know they've generally been an upward trajectory over the last decade or so, finishing top half and often in European positions more often than not in recent years, obviously they've made a lot on sales of attacking talent in recent years and Uzun looks like the next big money sale they'll have, but given the sheer economic power in Frankfurt as well as Eintracht not really having a big nearby rival to help split the interest (they never play their "traditional" rival and their de facto "#1" league rival is not a club near their size or prestige), just feels like another club that should be bigger than it is. They're not a small, unaccomplished club by any means, I'm not suggesting that, just that it feels to me like they're capable of more.
Frankfurt is one of the hardest clubs in the country. This is how they are marketed on the national broadcast: https://youtube.com/shorts/FFdV_QOVbFY?si=UDUwu7Qj8ltqB_xj Their most famous supporters are basically all gangsta rappers and former street dudes. An insane club. Truly something special.
It feels almost surreal to think that a win tonight puts us top of the league, albeit maybe temporarily. Despite all the negative discourse surrounding the club in the last month, in the standings we’re alright still.
Crazy that Live Score has pics of Castilla newbies but couldn't bother to get one for Gonzalo all these months.
Franco starting again. Deserved! Good selection by Arbeloa. one of their players Mastukade or whatever his name is was running his mouth im eager to see what he can do on the pitch.