FOCUS ON VILLARREAL
MANAGER
Javier Calleja has really just started his senior managerial career. The 40-year-old former Malaga and Osasuna midfielder was boss of Villarreal’s youth teams and the B team before taking over from Fran Escriba on 25 September 2017. Calleja played for Villarreal when they reached the semifinals of the Champions League in 2006, only to be beaten by Arsenal. Villarreal finished fifth in La Liga last season behind Barcelona, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Valencia.
FORM
Calleja called for his side to cut out the defensive mistakes ahead of the visit of Rangers and it looks to have worked. The Yellow Submarine picked up just one point from their opening three La Liga matches which was their worst start for 20 years. However, a 1-0 win at bottom side Leganes on Sunday with Carlos Bacca scoring with an assist from Miguel Layun, was a timely boost ahead of today’s clash with the Ibrox men.
PREVIOUS MEETING
The two clubs met in the last 16 of the 2005/06 Champions League. Villarreal, then managed by Manuel Pellegrini, came out on top on away goals after a 2-2 draw in Glasgow and a 1-1 draw in Spain. It was the Spanish club’s debut season in the competition and they went on to reach the semi-finals. Current manager Calleja was an unused substitute at Ibrox and came off the bench in the return game in El Madrigal.
TOP TALENT
In Santi Cazorla, Villarreal have a midfielder of proven quality. The 33-year-old playmaker returned to his first club from Arsenal in the summer after six years with the London club. Cazorla has 77 caps for Spain but missed out on their 2010 World Cup success through injury. He came on as a substitute in Spain’s 1-0 European Championship final win over Germany in 2008 and was part of the squad in their 2012 triumph. Keeping him quiet will be key to any success for Rangers.
HOME COMFORTS
Villarreal are unbeaten in three home games against Scottish opponents, keeping clean sheets in both of their two wins against Celtic. Rangers have never won in 11 visits to Spain to play Spanish clubs (they won the 1972 European Cup Winners’ Cup final against Moscow Dynamo at the Nou Camp). The Ibrox side’s first game in Europe against Spanish opposition was in the 1962/63 season when they came up against Seville in the
Cup Winners’ Cup. Rangers won 4-0 at
Ibrox but lost 2-0 in the away tie. They drew with Valencia in 1979 and Villarreal in 2006. Their nine defeats were all incurred without scoring a goal, most recently 3-0 at Valencia in the Uefa Champions League group stage.