Football Season Guide

Pre-season hasn’t gone exactly swimmingly for Marcelino’s Villarreal. They have managed just one goal in five outings so far against top flight opposition either in Spain or Portugal and an injury to Roberto Soldado’s knee in their latest 2-0 defeat to Deportivo la Coruna has led to alarm bells ringing in Castellon. Soldado is now a serious doubt for the Yellow Submarine’s crucial Champions League play-off against Monaco, a two-legged affair which straddles the opening weekend of the league season. Villarreal were awesome last season, finishing 4th despite taking their foot off the accelerator in the final weeks of the 2015-16 campaign, a luxury afforded them by the big advantage they managed to carve out for themselves. The draw for the final Champions League qualifying game could have been kinder to them, but they will still fancy their chances of beating AS Monaco over two legs if they approach top form. Soldado may miss out with that knee injury, but Monaco are also missing star striker Radamel Falcao. Cedric Bakambu was the revelation of last season and he will start against Monaco even if Soldado is fit. If his regular partner doesn’t make it, the Yellow Submarine’s new signing Alex Pato – once considered one of the best young players in the world – could make his competitive debut in this massive fixture. Having worked so hard to finish 4th, Villarreal’s whole season hinges on this play-off. Denis Cheryshev is back from Real Madrid and will fill the gap left by Denis Suarez this term, who returned to his former club Barcelona. Alfred N’Diaye is a new face in central midfield, as is Roberto Soriano, who cost the club 15 million euros to recruit from Sampdoria. Nicola Sansone and Cristian Espinoza have also joined to boost Marcelino’s attacking options, at a combined cost of nearly 20 million. Andres Fernandez and Jose Angel provide fresh options in goal and defence respectively, but the Castellon-based club is yet to cover the loss of Eric Bailly, who was sold to Manchester United in a 30 million deal back in June. The last time Villarreal qualified for the Champions League, they were relegated 12 months later. That is just as implausible now as it was then. The target this season is to cement 4th place again, while progressing as far as they can in Europe’s premier club competition. With experience of that previous catastrophe, Bruno Soriano will be an important figure as the captain in central midfield where he will lead the team on Marcelino’s behalf on the pitch. There is abundant talent in this team. The real question is do they have the strength in depth to cope with league and Champions League expectations.