It is funny how the little things stay with you. In the case of Quique Alvarez, captain of the Villarreal side that contested a Champions League semi-final against Arsenal in 2006, the “very small” Highbury away dressing room is the first detail that comes to mind as he remembers that encounter 15 years ago.
“We were all surprised – it was very old, very simple,” he tells i. The “special aura” of Arsenal’s old home left its mark too. “The main stand outside looked incredible. It looked like a big house, just nestled there in that neighbourhood – you hardly saw the ground until you got there.”
For Alvarez and his Villarreal colleagues, Highbury – where they lost to a solitary Kolo Touré goal – was the last stopover on a famous journey for the then Champions League newcomers though their home stadium, El Madrigal, where the clubs meet in the first leg of another semi-final on Thursday night, was the setting for the final act: a scoreless second-leg draw on a night Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann saved Juan Riquelme’s last-minute penalty. “It ended with that penalty,” Alvarez recalls. “During the 90 minutes we were pretty superior to them and had three or four clear chances before the penalty. It was a shame.”
The memory of Villarreal’s 2005-06 adventure explains why Fernando Roig, the club’s president, was a fitting choice to appear in a press conference last week alongside Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish league, and declare in response to the European Super League plotters, the Kroenkes included, that “nobody should tell us ‘you can’t get there’.”
After all, the club they call the Yellow Submarine had not long surfaced from Spain’s second tier prior to their European exploits under Manuel Pellegrini, who also led them a Champions League quarter-final in 2009 – a run ended by Arsenal again (4-1 on aggregate).
“Una bonita historia” – a beautiful story – is how Alvarez describes Villarreal’s early-noughties rise. “We had a base of Spanish players with lots of ambition, and then different players for whom perhaps it hadn’t worked out at bigger clubs, like [Diego] Forlan, Riquelme and Jose Mari.”
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will hardly need reminding. He was in the Everton side beaten 4-2 on aggregate by Villarreal in a Champions League play-off in August 2005. After Villarreal’s 2-1 first-leg win on Merseyside, Arteta’s fabulous free-kick reignited Evertonian hopes at 1-1 in the return. “Arteta equalised and we had some difficult moments,” says Alvarez, whose side had a let-off with a Duncan Ferguson goal controversially ruled out by Italian referee Pierluigi Collina.
“Things kept going our way until we found ourselves in the semi-final,” Alvarez continues. “We had a lot of hope and desire and we kept asking ourselves, ‘Why not?’. Arsenal had a great team, with a lot more experience, but we’d eliminated Man United in the group stage and then Rangers and Inter, so why not? We were ready to complete with any team, as we showed. And we were close.”
Fifteen years on, they are asking why not once more ahead of Villarreal’s fifth European semi-final. They won none of the previous four yet in Unai Emery have a specialist in this competition, a coach who has won all four of the Europa League semi-finals he has contested – going on to win three finals with Sevilla before finishing runners-up with Arsenal in 2019. Under the ex-Gunners manager, Villarreal have won 11 of 12 matches to reach this stage.
“They need to finish the job,” says Alvarez who was No 2 to Emery’s predecessor, Javier Calleja. “Emery has an important history in this competition. Last year they had a good base, a good season in the league, and they’ve made important additions like [midfield organiser Daniel] Parejo and have taken another step.” Parejo, once of QPR, is among several players familiar to English watchers, including Arsenal old boy Francis Coquelin, former Tottenham centre-back Juan Foyth and Étienne Capoue, the ex-Spurs and Watford midfielder.
Yet the man Arsenal really have to watch is Gerard Moreno, scorer of 20 league goals this term – and six in the Europa League. Alvarez says of the Spanish international: “He was a player who wouldn’t appear much in a game but when he did, he scored. He’s always made a difference with his goals but this year he’s much more important – he’s not just popping up and scoring but getting assists. He’s important in the team’s positional play. He’s in great shape, full of confidence and has got speed, intuition, [clever] positioning. He’s one of the most influential players in the Spanish league.”
And, according to Alvarez, one of several reasons why, on paper at least, this semi-final looks a “more even” contest than the one 15 years ago. Villarreal’s current crop will find spacious dressing rooms at the Emirates next week but the gap between the sides seems slight indeed.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3eC0dFT
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