This would turn out not to be the case. Pedri's first-half goal ensured that Villarreal would lose their third consecutive league match. The 1-0 loss against their Catalan opponents caused the Valencian club to slip to eighth place in La Liga, seven points behind fourth-placed Atlético Madrid. Villarreal's chances of qualifying for the 2023-24 Champions League now appear increasingly slim.
When this season began, the outlook regarding Villarreal had been generally positive. Having won the Europa League two seasons prior, then following it up with an impressive run to the Champions League semifinals which saw them knock pre-tournament favourites Bayern Munich out of the competition in the quarterfinals, Villarreal were seen as a team clearly on the rise and a firm contender for a top-four league finish and with it, a second Champions League berth in three seasons.
However, Villarreal's season to date has obviously not gone according to plan. That being said, Villarreal were still in contention for the top four when the moment that may have sunk their chances took place. Last October, Villarreal were in seventh place in the league and fresh off a 2-1 home win against Almería when head coach Unai Emery left his position to take the job at Premier League club Aston Villa where he would replace the recently-fired Steven Gerrard. Incidentally, Emery's move to England appears to have been one which hasn't really worked out for either party; he has struggled ever since stepping into the dugout at Villa Park.
The day after Emery's departure was confirmed, Villarreal replaced the Basque with Quique Setién. Setién accepted his first such role since his ill-fated seven-month stint in charge of Barça in 2020. In the four months since then, Setién has been underwhelming at Villarreal. Although things appeared to be starting to change for the better when Villarreal beat Real Madrid for a third consecutive league victory, Villarreal proceeded to follow it up with a five-match run in which they won just one match and accumulated a meagre four points. Additionally, two weeks after Villarreal's victory against Real, they would be eliminated from the Copa del Rey by the same opponents. It has become increasingly clear that Setién should not be Villarreal's long-term solution. He is evidently not a coach who is able to get it done at this level.
Villarreal's failure to make any moves of note in both the mid-season and off-season transfer windows must also be pointed out. None of Villarreal's acquisitions have really moved the needle; this point is especially salient when considering the fact that Villarreal sold Pervis Estupiñán to Brighton & Hove Albion for €17.8 million during the off-season but failed to make good use of this influx of money. The mid-season departure of goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli, Villarreal's best player this season, to Ajax only served to make things even more difficult - particularly since he has been replaced in goal by a geriatric Pepe Reina.
Villarreal's struggles up front have also been obvious. They have scored just 22 league goals in 21 matches this season; their leading goalscorer Gerard Moreno has just five to his name. Their drop-off from last season is remarkable, having notched 63 league goals in 2021-22. That said, although they may not have immediately seen this coming, they could certainly have brought in reinforcements up front in January. They did not and will likely go on to rue that.
It does somewhat feel as though Villarreal never truly appreciated how good their situation last season really was and thus overlooked multiple opportunities to build on this success. Instead, they have regressed by way of an ill-advised coaching change as well as several transfer blunders while multiple direct rivals have strengthened. Although Villarreal are not yet completely out of the running in the chase for a top-four finish, it's certainly a very tall order at this point.
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