The Yellows have celebrated great triumphs, celebrated various triumphs and had paid tribute in special ways
Villarreal CF have had some incredible moments in 2024. On a sporting level, the Yellows started the year with a fantastic climb that saw some prestigious wins at difficult locations and left Marcelino’s side close to qualifying for Europe after a tough 2023.
While Yellows players, some players had some great achievements with the club, or with their countries, like Álex Baena.
The club also said goodbye to some legends such as Manu Trigueros and Pepe Reina, who ended their successful eras as Villarreal CF players.
Off the pitch, the club launched new spaces at the new-look Estadio de la Cerámica, such as Inmersión Villarreal and the Corner Sports Bar del Poble.
Villarreal CF also helped those affected by the severe flooding in Valencia at the end of Octobre, with important economic donations, as well as forming part of the Alcem-se programme, led by Valencian businessman Juan Roig.
Finally, back on the picth the Submarine ended the year in the European spots after an impressive start to the season by Marcelino’s men.
The best moments of Villarreal in 2024:
1. A prestigious and convincing win in Barcelona (3-5)
The first great joy of the year came at the end of January. The Submarine visited the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to face FC Barcelona after a shaky start to the year in which they had yet to win in three games. On 27th January, Villarreal pulled off the surprise of the season, scoring five goals away against the Catalan side. They had not conceded so many goals at home since 1963. The goals came from Gerard, Ilias, Guedes, Sorloth and Morales.
2. Villarreal dream of a historic comeback against OM (3-1)
After going 4-0 down in France, Villarreal did not give up and came close to an historic achievement. Despite going down to a shock defeat in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie, the Groguets put in a great display and came within a whisker of pulling off a magical comeback at the Estadio de la Cerámica (3-1).
Goals from Étienne Capoue, Alexander Sorloth and Yerson Mosquera made it 3-0 with five minutes remaining. The Yellows fans dreamed of a fourth goal which, despite their team’s efforts, did not come in the end, but left everyone at La Cerámica proud.
3. Four historic goals scored by Sorloth against Real Madrid (4-4)
Alexander Sorloth was one of the big names of the first part of 2024. The Norwegian striker scored 26 goals last season. Many of them in the final stretch of the championship, where he put in memorable displays. The best, for many, was the one against Real Madrid on 19th May.
Against Los Blancos, the Yellows No.11 scored four goals, three of them in the second half to level the score at 4-4. He only needed 17 minutes to do it. Nobody in history had ever scored a hat-trick against Madrid in such a short period of time.
4. Álex Baena’s golden summer with Spain
The reward for Álex Baena’s fantastic season, in which he became the top assist provider of the 2023/24 LALIGA EA Sports season, came with his call-up for the European Championships and then the Olympic Games .
The Villarreal midfielder had a golden summer by winning the European Championship in Berlin with the senior team and, a few weeks later, winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris against hosts France. All this in a great summer for the player from Roquetas de Mar.
5. A farewell for legendary Manu Trigueros
Villarreal said goodbye to one of its biggest legends this summer. Manu Trigueros ended his time at the club after 14 seasons at the club, 12 of them with the first team. The midfielder put an end to his career at Villarreal after having become, with 477 appearances, the player with the most appearances in the elite in the history of the club.
To bid him farewell, the club prepared an emotional video in one of the rooms of the Inmersión Villarreal interactive experience.
6. Christ the Redeemer is dressed in Villarreal colours after the historic agreement with the Pelé Academia
Villarreal CF and the Pelé Academia in Brazil reached a historic partnership agreement that was presented to the world with a spectacular event featuring the Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro dressed in yellow, wearing the Villarreal CF shirt.
7. Dani Parejo and Raúl Albiol reach 200 matches with Villarreal
Raúl Albiol and Dani Parejo have both passed the 200-match mark as Yellows. The Villarreal captain, with 201 official appearances, reached the milestone in the defeat against Real Betis at La Cerámica on 15th December.
Meanwhile, Dani Parejo surpassed the impressive 200 official games for Villarreal on 5th October against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu (2-0). The midfielder closed the year with 210 appearances for Villarreal.
8. Villarreal help the victims of severe flooding in Valencia
Villarreal CF showed their charitable nature after the tragic flooding suffered in dozens of towns and villages in the south of Valencia at the end of October. The Yellows donated a total of €2.5million. First of all, they collaborated by making an economic donation to the Red Cross and Cáritas of €500,000, before joining the Alcem-se Esport initiative, led by Valencian business man Juan Roig, and managed by the Fundación Trinidad Alfonso and Valencia Basket Club. Thanks to this €2million donation, Villarreal CF will pay for the cost of rebuilding La Torre’s football stadium after the agreement between the club, the Fundación Trinidad Alfonso and the Valencia City Council.
The Yellows returned to action a week after the flooding happened. The club prepared an emotional tribute to those affected in the build-up to the match. The official anthem of the Region of Valencia played out, while a giant flag of the region was placed in the middle of the pitch at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
9. Juan Foyth returns to play an official match a year later
Juan Foyth returned to the pitch on 18th December against Rayo Vallecano (1-1) after overcoming the knee injury that saw him miss the start of the 2024/25 season.
The Argentinean was injured during pre-season on 2nd August against Nottingham Forest. He was fit in the summer after recovering from injury, with his last official match being on 14th December 2024 in the UEFA Europa League group stage agianst Stade Rennais.
10. Thierno Barry’s hat-trick to end the year
Thierno Barry bid farewell to 2024 with three goals at Butarque. The French striker led Villarreal to a resounding victory against CD Leganés (2-5), with which the Yellows officially said goodbye to the current year that is coming to an end.
In LALIGA matches, only ten Villarreal players have scored three or more goals in a game: Juan Román Riquelme, Diego Forlán, Ike Uche, Cedric Bakambu, Carlos Bacca, Gerard Moreno, Arnaut Danjuma, Yeremy Pino (4), José Luis Morales and Alex Sorloth (4).
