Villarreal revolts in Bern

Villarreal grabbed hold of this Champions League in an agonizing way, but also with the personality and conviction that it has been showing for months in Europe. If someone takes a look at the classification of LaLiga, the table of this group stage or the nerves of some phases, they might think that the team is in crisis, that the river is troubled and Emery, discussed. It’s just three wins in 12 games this season. But analyzing what happens in the field, no one doubts that the Submarine is one of the great sensations of the course. Against the Young Boys he punched the table again. And all because his midfield is a scandal, dominating and forceful, and the front is a blatant nod to the future that has little to envy the others. Danjuma, Gerard and Yeremy play in La Cerámica, but they could well be the trident of the Premier’s champion. They took Switzerland, leaving Villarreal with their options intact to go to the second round.

The party had all the conditions to start trembling. A rocky adversary, a poisoned environment and an artificial turf, where Cristiano already choked, which made him distrust. However, Villarreal’s bravery soon turned things upside down. In a quarter of an hour, two measured centers silenced the henhouse. The first (6 ‘) was a gift from Pedraza that Yeremy headed at the far post. The 0-2 (16 ‘) was born from a side caress by Parejo from the same sector that Gerard did not waste with the mischief that characterizes him. Villarreal, patient and far-sighted, found the goal before the game against an opponent whose result was not doing him justice.

The Young Boys is anything but a Cinderella. Without glittering stars, handle the ball better than expected. He bases his football on verticality and relies on his attack on the bullets at his ends. Elia doesn’t run, she flies. He abandoned his defense of four this time encouraged by the successful drawing of five that Osasuna raised a few days before. For this reason, Villarreal begged for the rest of the half hour to come. If the local team did not cut distances then it was because of the poor aim of Ulises García, because of the stick that frustrated Fassnacht or because of Elia’s lack of pause. Albiol brought consistency, but Emery’s defensive system continues to show loopholes. Above all, when you press unbalanced or some part does not carbure. Coquelin, without clashing, was the only wicker that always seemed to be in no man’s land. He did not contribute in attack what Trigueros did, did not add to the high pressure and did not collaborate with Pedraza to close his band. His delivery, as always, made up for the shortcomings.

If we talk about delivery, the player of the match was Pedraza. The side gives him to cover his area, take responsibility for the exit, bend inside, center, finish, go to the rejection and press if the ball has changed sides. With defenses stationed in front, he is a good player. With spaces it is a locomotive. Your match is for framing. And not just because he gave two providential passes or because he splintered the crossbar in the 50th minute. It is that he infects his self-esteem. Their careers have provisionally seated Alberto Moreno and Estupiñán and raise a proud crowd. He represents like nobody else what Villarreal is in this Champions League: he is not the best, but he is the hungriest.

With that certainty he looked for the third goal in the second half instead of crowding into the cave, while Rulli solved with note the problems that were arising in his area. The Argentine goalkeeper did not have enough in Gdansk and has determined to be a hero. Only Elia, in 77 ‘, could beat him after beating Albiol and Pau in a bad way. Emery always ordered to look ahead, taking advantage of the fact that the Young Boys changed to defense of four, because Villarreal does not know how to live without the ball. It’s that ambitious. Thus came the third goal for Alberto Moreno, running into space, and that of Chukwueze to celebrate that he is back. And now he wants more. In 15 days he will receive the Young Boys with the intention of continuing to take steps in the elite, to leave the Swiss champion a little further behind and, above all, to tie at least second place and be back in the exciting tie. Among other things, he needs to take that step, for which he has invested, renewed and signed, with the aim of making the staff aware that if the past was unforgettable (those Riquelme semifinals …), the present is glorious (first Europa League makes a while) and the future, an incalculable treasure.