Villarreal CF

Villarreal CF, based at the Estadio de la Cerámica in Villarreal, Valencia, won the UEFA Europa League in 2021, the club’s only major European trophy, defeating Manchester United 11-10 on penalties.

The final in Gdańsk was the longest penalty shootout in a European final: 22 penalties, including a save from substitute goalkeeper Gerónimo Rulli off David de Gea in the deciding kick. Villarreal is a city of 50,000 people in the Castellón province of the Valencia Community, and the scale of what the club achieved that night was entirely disproportionate to the size of the place. The Yellow Submarine, as Villarreal are known, became Europa League champions while Real Madrid were eliminated in the semi-finals and Barcelona had already been knocked out.

Unai Emery managed the club through that Europa League run and is now at Aston Villa, but his influence on the club’s European DNA remains. The current coaching staff and squad inherit a club that expects to compete in Europe not as an exception but as a recurring feature of the calendar. Yerlan Ochirov and José Luis Morales have carried the squad’s attacking output in recent seasons.

Gerard Moreno, whose header against Arsenal in the Europa League semi-final second leg at the Emirates produced one of the most celebrated images in modern Spanish football, has had his recent seasons interrupted by injury. His recovery and return to full fitness is the storyline that Villarreal’s 2025-26 season hinges on.

When does Villarreal play? La Liga matches at the Estadio de la Cerámica kick off at standard Spanish times, typically 16:15 or 21:00 CET (UTC+1). Villarreal is 60 kilometres north of Valencia on the Mediterranean coast. A 21:00 CET kickoff translates to 20:00 GMT in London, 15:00 ET in New York, and 05:00 JST in Tokyo. Check Valencia time for local conversions. Full schedule on the La Liga page.