MADRID, 17 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Villarreal begins this Thursday at the Ciutat de València (8:45 p.m.), in the first match of the Conference League preliminary tie against the Croatian Hajduk Split, its journey in search of the group stage, a minimum objective in a season in which the team from Castellón is one of the main favorites to lift the title of the third continental competition.
After winning the Europa League in 2021 and reaching the semifinals of the Champions League in 2022, Unai Emery’s men seek to become the first Spanish team to play in the group stage of the third European tournament, which started last year and which , perhaps, could remain scarce for the ambition of the ‘Yellow Submarine’.
“Europe excites us, calls us, gives us recognition. The ‘Champions’ is the most beautiful thing, the Europa League is precious and the Conference is a competition that is born well, with a coach like Mourinho being the first to have won it and with a a team like Roma, which could be competing in the ‘Champions’, winning that title,” said the Basque coach.
Now, the people from Castellón will try to take advantage of the good league start, in which they thrashed Real Valladolid (0-3), to become strong in the Ciutat de València, their new ‘home’ while the remodeling works are carried out in the Stadium of Ceramics and where they will be accompanied by thousands of fans who will travel in almost a hundred buses from Vila-Real.
Emery will be without the injured Manu Trigueros, Alberto Moreno, Arnaut Danjuma and Juan Foyth, the suspended Étienne Capoue or Boulaye Dia and Paco Alcácer, who are negotiating their departure from the club. In exchange, the Argentinian Giovani Lo Celso will be there, a brand new signing for the ‘groguets’.
Opposite, Hajduk Split, eternally second in the Croatian league behind Dinamo Zagreb -precisely the team that endorsed them 4-1 in the last league game-, will try to cause a surprise after eliminating in the previous round the Portuguese Vitoria de Guimaraes.