Villarreal welcome Italian high-fliers Atalanta to La Ceramica this evening to get their 2021/22 Champions League campaign up and running. The Spanish side didn’t have a game last weekend and so will be well-rested and raring to go come the first whistle.
¡Y este es el 1️⃣1️⃣ inicial del Submarino ante el @Atalanta_BC!
¡Estos son los titulares para nuestro debut en @LigadeCampeones 🏆!#UCL pic.twitter.com/NLKiJHpuTy
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) September 14, 2021
The Yellow Submarine qualified for this season’s Champions League thanks to their victory in last season’s Europa League. Manchester United, the club they beat to win it, are in their group, as are Swiss outfit Young Boys. Atalanta and United are tricky customers, so a positive result this evening would go a long way to setting Villarreal up for a good run.
Unai Emery, who enjoyed success with Sevilla in a previous life, has recruited intelligently since taking over at Villarreal in the summer of 2020 and will hope to improve on last season’s seventh-placed finish in La Liga. The Yellow Submarine currently sit 13th in the league table and have a game in hand.
