Villarreal had OM on the ropes and go close to making history at La Cerámica
What a team to be proud of! Villarreal overcame Olympique de Marseille at the Estadio de la Cerámica (3-1). The Yellows gave everything to make the seemingly impossible possible. And until the final whistle, they kept the dream of a comeback alive. Credit to this team and to the fans, who carried their players on their backs when their legs were weighing down.
Villarreal sought to achieve the heroic deed. The Yellows took to the Estadio de la Cerámica pitch with courage and a lot of bite in search of a quick goal that would pave the long road to the comeback.
During the warm-up, Reina felt some discomfort and was unable to start despite having been one of the XI chosen by Marcelino. Filip replaced him and the setback did not prevent the Yellows from making an exceptional start to the game, accumulating countless chances in the opening stages. Sorloth was the first to carve out a chance after just ten minutes with a shot that went out for a corner. And from that moment on, the opportunities came and went: a shot from Gonçalo Guedes from the edge of the area, a deflected shot from Gerard, a header from Sorloth that went over….
The Submarine threw themselves into attack, going all out in attack, although the goal was eluding them. They needed to knock on the door and activate the necessary detonator for the belief of the Yellows to materialise. And the goal came. On the half hour Capoue scored the first. The French midfielder made his way into the box and headed in a cross from the right that had been beautifully delivered by Kiko Femenía. 1-0 on the scoreboard and La Cerámica was rocking.
In the final stretch of the first half, Villarreal continued to press forward, being daring and looking to extend the lead. Capoue had a chance with time running out. Again with a header as in the action of the goal. But this time the ball went over the goal defended by Pau López, Marseille’s goalkeeper.
The second half started with a very clear chance for OM. On the counter-attack, the French team had the chance to equalise. Aubameyang shot wide in a one-on-one against an attentive Filip Jorgensen.
That didn’t discourage the Submarine, who gave a lesson in commitment and faith. In the 55th minute, and after almost three minutes of VAR suspense, Sorloth scored to make it 2-0 with a right-footed shot at the near post after a fantastic assist from Guedes.
In the 66th minute, Baena came on to add pace to an already attack-minded Villarreal, who needed to find two more goals to force extra time. It was difficult, but not impossible.
In the 73rd minute, Gerard headed from close range after Baena’s corner. Pau made a superb save to prevent a 3-0 lead. In the same action, Guedes sent the rebound over the bar. La Cerámica was going crazy.
The clock was ticking and the Submarine were running out of time. But, in the 85th minute, Mosquera made it 3-0 from a set piece expertly taken by Álex Baena.
In the end, in extra time, Marseille made it 3-1. With the Submarine looking for the fourth, the visitors took advantage of a counter-attacking move to close out a tie that the Submarine never looked to have lost.
