Villarreal CF are fourth with eight points from the first four matches
Villarreal have made an impressive start to the 2024/25 LA LIGA EA SPORTS season. After the first four games of the season, the Yellow Submarine have taken eight points from a possible 12, with two stoppage-time victories against Sevilla and Celta de Vigo, and two draws against Atlético de Madrid and Valencia.
These results, which represent the club’s third-best start to a league campaign in the last decade in terms of points, place the team coached by Marcelino in Champions League places, in fourth position to be precise, rubbing shoulders with and only behind the top contenders for the title: FC Barcelona, and, also with eight points, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Behind them and with one point less in the bag are Girona, Alavés and Osasuna.
Starting the season well
Starting the season with a lot of points and in the top half of the table is important for the Yellow Submarine and invites a feeling of optimism. So much so that whenever Villarreal CF have been in the Champions League places after the first four league games in the last decade, they have always finished the season at least in the top five.
This has happened a total of three times in the last ten years. The first dates back to the 2015/16 season, with the club’s current head coach, Marcelino García Toral, living his first stint in the dugout. That year, Villarreal were in fourth place after taking ten of the first 12 possible points, and finished the season in the same position. The same number of points, which was also the club’s best start to the league in the last decade in terms of points, were also taken by Villarreal CF under Unai Emery in the 2022/23 season to see them sit in third at this stage and eventually finish fifth.
Similarly to the current campaign, in 2016/17, the Yellow Submarine had eight points after the first four rounds, and finished the regularity tournament in fifth place.
What is to come
The good results have allowed Marcelino and his team to face the international break with a certain degree of calm after the good work they have done, but also with the demand and desire to continue in the same dynamic so as not to slip off the top of the standings. In September, Villarreal will face Mallorca at Son Moix, host FC Barcelona, travel to Barcelona for the clash against RCD Espanyol and finish the month against Las Palmas at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
