The Villarreal will play the semifinal of the Europe
League in front of Arsenal Englishman with the historic penalty missed by the Argentine Juan
Roman
Riquelme fifteen years ago as a thorn in the history of the Castellón club but also as a motivation to reach, this time, its first European final.
It was also in the month of April, but 2006. The Villarreal faced the second leg of the semifinals of the Champions
League at the El Madrigal stadium with the minimum disadvantage of 1-0 achieved by the Arsenal on the go. In the 88th minute, with 0-0 on the scoreboard, he had the chance to equalize the tie with a penalty taken by Riquelme.
However, the great star of that Villarreal could not transform the launch and force the extension. The possibility of playing the most mediatic club final in the world disappeared and ended what would have been one of the most important milestones in European football after having dominated in that second match a Arsenal who ended up losing the final of that edition to the FC Barcelona.
That April 25, the team led by the Chilean Manuel
Pellegrini remained at the gates of glory, although that semifinal of the highest continental competition still remains one of the greatest milestones in the history of the 'yellow submarine' together with the League runner-up achieved in 2007-2008 also with Pellegrini in front.
South American stamp
Next to Riquelme Y Pellegrini, that Villarreal It had a marked South American stamp by having among its ranks soccer players of the stature of the Uruguayan Forlan, the brazilian frames
Senna or the also Argentines Sorin Y Arruabarrena, all of them, to a greater or lesser extent, with an outstanding career in the Castellón club.
In addition to that duel, Europe also saw another confrontation between both teams later and also in the Champions
League, on this occasion in the quarter-finals of the 2008-2009 campaign and which was also resolved in favor of the London team, which is another reason for the La Cerámica team to now face the duel with greater motivation.
However, that second crossroads between both teams had less history, not only because they played a round before the current one, but because after the one-goal draw in the first leg played at El Madrigal, the Arsenal did not give any option to the team Pellegrini in his stadium by beating him by a resounding 3-0.
Thus, with these precedents, the London team is the rival with the worst memory for the Villarreal in continental competitions, followed by Valencia that also stopped the people of Castellón on the European path in a semi-final of the UEFA Cup and a few quarters of the Europe
League.
Now him Villarreal faces the tie with the idea of making good the saying that “the third time is the charm” against Arsenal who will be measured at La Cerámica in the first leg on 29th of this month and who will pay a visit on May 6 .