Overview
Villarreal and Manchester City both drew 2-2 in their most recent matches in the UEFA Champions League thanks to a goal in the 90th minute. However, it is clear that the Spanish team will be more satisfied with this result than the Premier League representative.
Juventus led 2-1 at the Estadio de la Ceramica in the second match, but former Chelsea defender Renato Veiga equalized for Villarreal with a header after a corner kick. At almost the same time, Eric Dier scored from the penalty spot to help Monaco equalize 2-2 against Man City, despite Erling Haaland scoring twice before.
Thus, while Villarreal won a valuable point, Man City unfortunately dropped two points. However, Pep Guardiola's side still have four points, eighth in the table ahead of this match.
After Villarreal lost 0-1 to Tottenham in the opening match, they must get points if they want to maintain their hope of going through.
To do that, Villarreal need to break the curse against Pep Guardiola - who has never lost to the "Golden Submarine" in his coaching career. He has faced them eight times, winning five and drawing three. Among Spanish opponents, only Athletic Bilbao (14 matches) and Valencia (10 matches) are the two teams Pep has met with the most but are still unbeaten.
Villarreal manager Marcelino is no stranger to Guardiola. The last time the two coaches met was in October 2011, when Sevilla held Barcelona to a 0-0 draw. That day, the Camp Nou team controlled the ball up to 74% of the time - a number that Man City could easily repeat in this confrontation.
Statistics show that City are maintaining their two highest possession rates in the Champions League this season: 73.8% against Napoli and 71.3% against Monaco. Meanwhile, Villarreal ranked 29th out of 36 teams in terms of average ball possession rate (43.1%).
Not only did The Citizens control the ball well, they also completely dominated the opponent's half. They have made 1,092 passes in the opposite half - 523 more than the second-placed team. 74% of City's successful passes have come in the opposition half - the highest rate in a single season since 2003-2004.
However, Villarreal still have their own strength in the ability to counter-attack quickly. They have made four counter-attacks leading to shots in the Champions League this season - only behind Club Brugge and Liverpool (5). In La Liga, Villarreal have also scored 9 goals in this way since the beginning of last season, including a goal against Real Betis last weekend.
Villarreal's biggest hope lies in Nicolas Pepe - a former Arsenal player. He has created seven chances in just two Champions League games this season, double any other teammate. Pepe is also one of 6 players in the tournament who created at least 5 chances from the live ball and successfully made more than five dribbles.
On the opposite side, Man City still rely on Haaland's destructive form. The Norwegian striker has scored eight goals in eight meetings with Spanish sides in the Champions League. He also scored twice in the 2-0 win over Everton in the Premier League, bringing his total goals this season to 17 (including the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup).
Head-to-head record
The two previous meetings between Villarreal and Man City took place in the UEFA Champions League group stage in 2011-2012, when the English representative won both times (2-1 at home and 3-0 away).
However, their recent trips to Spain do not bring many beautiful memories. Man City have won just four of their 14 away games against La Liga sides in the Champions League, and have lost seven.
Score prediction: Villarreal 1 - 3 Man City
The match between Villarreal and Man City takes place at 2:00 am on October 22 (Vietnam time).
