Villarreal host this Sunday (6:30pm CEST) a FC Barcelona side that have been unstoppable to date
The Estadio de la Cerámica will host, on Sunday at 6:30pmC EST, a great match between two teams currently in the Champions League places. Villarreal CF face a highly demanding match, on Matchday 6 of the 2024/25 LALIGA EA Sports seaspn, against FC Barcelona, who are at the top of the table after winning all five of their league games to date. A test for the Yellow Submarine to see if they are ready to compete head to head against one of the top contenders for the title.
Villarreal, fourth in the table, four points behind FC Barcelona and the same number of points as Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid, continued their good run of form last weekend with a last-gasp 1-2 win over Mallorca thanks to a decisive goal from Ayoze Pérez. Marcelino’s side remain unbeaten in the competition after two draws and three stoppage-time victories over Sevilla, Celta Vigo and Mallorca. They face the challenge of remaining one of only four unbeaten teams this season.
FC Barcelona, for their part, have taken 15 of the first 15 possible points by beating Valencia, Athletic Club, Rayo Vallecano, Real Valladolid and Girona by a convincing 1-4 scoreline last time out. The Catalan club also boasts the current top scorer of the competition with four goals, Polish striker Lewandowski, and the top assist provider, Lamine Yamal, who has three to his name.
The best attack in the Spanish top flight so far with 17 goals scored will face one of the most outstanding goalkeepers at the start of the league: Diego Conde. The player from Madrid, who joined the club this summer from Leganés, is the goalkeeper with the most saves in LALIGA, a total of 20 in five games.
The level of Conde himself, the determination of players such as Álex Baena and Ayoze Pérez, the competitive capacity and the great moment of confidence that the team is going through are some of the arguments that the Yellow Submarine have to surprise and beat FC Barcelona on home soil for the first time since the 2007/08 season, when the team managed by Manuel Pellegrini won 3-1 thanks to goals from Santi Cazorla and Marcos Senna from the penalty spot twice. The last previous meeting between the two sides was the epic 3-5 win in the second leg of last season’s second leg with a comeback and two goals in added time.
Refereeing team
Mateo Busquets Ferrer is the main official for the match, with Javier Iglesias Villanueva on VAR.
