There was cautious optimism about Villarreal heading into the 2026-27 season. The biggest reason was that they kept their core together despite transfer rumors swirling around during the summer. While veterans Dani Parejo and Alfonso Pedraza had their contracts expire, the likes of Santi Comesaña, Pape Gueye, and Georges Mikautadze stayed to help compete in the present.
What also had people intrigued with Villarreal was the coaching change in the dugout. Marcelino did an impressive job during his second stint with the club. He helped steer them back to stability after being hired in Nov 2023, including qualifying for the Champions League in both 2025 (5th) and 2026 (3rd). They played efficient football during his time there, even if they usually came up short in head-to-head matchups against the trio of La Liga giants (Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid, Barcelona).
The task of succeeding Marcelino wasn’t easy, yet who they eventually chose to be his replacement was an interesting call. Iñigo Pérez’s resume as a head coach was brief yet impressive, highlighted by back to back 8th place finishes with Rayo Vallecano in 2025 and 2026 despite having one of the smallest budgets in the first division. There was also success in Europe, making the 2026 Conference League final and eventually losing to Crystal Palace. Despite only being a head coach since August 2023, he was already wanted by several clubs in such a short time.
There’ve been ups and downs for the Yellow Submarine heading into the extended international break. Villarreal are currently in 9th place and already five points out of the top five in La Liga. Their opener in the Champions League saw them lose against Borussia Dortmund. Outside of matchups versus Atlético and Real Betis (only getting one out of a possible six points), their schedule has been manageable since they’ve already faced all three promoted clubs (Racing Santander, Deportivo La Coruña, Málaga).
This paints the picture of a club which has not been at their best to open the season, but is there room for optimism with Villarreal’s performances?
One could argue that Pérez’s claim to fame during his successful run with Rayo Vallecano stemmed from what they did without the ball. His sides were often aggressive in their defending to try and generate high turnovers against an unsettled opponent. It continued the foundation laid forth by Andoni Iraola, an unsurprising development given Pérez’s time as part of Iraola’s coaching staff during his Vallecas days. However, last season saw Rayo become increasingly more selective to counteract an increasingly leaky defense, a switch which ultimately worked out for them.
Moving to Villarreal has seen the press regain the intensity from previous years. Across a slew of public metrics, Villarreal rank among the best in La Liga this season. They’re in the top three for pressed sequences, passes per defensive action, or high turnovers generated via Opta Analyst. According to MarkStats, Villarreal are third in creating dangerous opponent losses near their goal (unsuccessful passes, lost dribbles, or bad touches).
At its best, Villarreal’s press has been impressive so far this season. One of the forwards would curve their run to be between the opposing central defender and goalkeeper, which would trigger some variation of man-to-man marking to force high turnovers or a hurried long ball. The touchline is used as the extra defender and it can be tough to escape from. It’s a setup which has become commonplace in European football, but Villarreal’s aggressiveness helps push it up a level.
Part of what’s also helped Villarreal succeed defensively at points is they try not to just sit in a passive block once they retreat into the middle third or their own half. If there’s a loose touch or the pass is distributed so that the receiver shifts their back to a player in yellow, it triggers pressure and forces the opponent backwards. The jumps are timed well, not allowing the person on the ball to operate freely.
Having said that, there have been issues for Villarreal which have popped up so far this season. Against higher-quality opponents, Villarreal have had occasional struggles in boxing them in on the flank. This has led to them finding the free man in the middle of the pitch with room to maneuver. The counterpress has not been airtight, with the distances being too great even after committing so many players forward. On occasion, Villarreal can also be vulnerable to conceding territory from not winning the first or second ball. They’re only 12th in overall aerial duels won.
Under normal circumstances, for coaches whose claim to fame rests on their out-of-possession success, people become quite interested with what their sides can do on the ball once they move to a bigger club. Villarreal were a unique test case because under Marcelino, they did not monopolize the ball at all. Their average possession was far below 50% in 2024-25 (47.5%) and 2025-26 (44.5%), winning through manufacturing swift attacks constantly.
It’s only been seven matches so far, but the numbers for Villarreal in possession resemble what you’d expect from a La Liga side chasing CL qualification. Only Barcelona’s 68.6% average possession eclipses Villarreal’s 61.7%. The same thing occurs for field tilt (67.4% vs 61.8% according to MarkStats). More granular metrics from Opta Analyst like passes per sequence, sequence time, and build-up attacks are in the 4th-6th range. Their zones of control, also from Opta Analyst, looks a lot like what you’d expect from a ball-dominant side:
During buildup, Villarreal would most often utilize a 4+2 structure with the fullbacks stretched wide. There are times where the fullbacks will move inwards, especially to create space for easy circulation towards the flanks. In general, they’re not averse to going long, particularly on the right with Nicolas Pépé as a credible outlet. The two midfielders in the pivot (usually Gueye and Comesaña) would vary their positioning, sometimes staying very close to each other or in a staggered alignment.
Villarreal have found different ways of gaining access to the middle when trying to play through the opponent. One would be through getting the left-sided attacker (Alberto Moleiro for example) to move inwards and create a situational midfield trio. Another would be through utilizing the goalkeeper as an extra ball-playing defender, and activating the center-backs to get inwards. It’s not something they’ve done often, but is an interesting counter that can help them generate momentum.
During established possession, Villarreal have shown proclivity for generating runs into space. This is helped by having flexible attackers like Georges Mikautadze, Ayoze Pérez and Gerard Moreno who are comfortable operating in deeper areas. Either Comesaña or Gueye can move forward and try channel runs towards the penalty area for potential cut-backs opportunities. You also have the fullbacks providing underlapping movements. Only Barcelona have had more touches in the box than Villarreal this season, an illustration to their tendency for crashing the penalty box.
A worry for Villarreal going forward is their aggressiveness in trying to create good shots in the box can lead to them being susceptible for counter attacks. With the fullbacks positioned high and wide, even creating a front 6 at times in the final third, it leads to very few being behind the ball in case of a turnover. The 2-1 loss at home to Real Betis was an example of that, conceding 26 shots and a ton of high quality chances. While some of this came from being in a losing game state for the entirety of the second half, Villarreal became increasingly exposed defensively.
There’ve been some impressive highs and worrying lows for Villarreal so far this season. The past two matches have shown their ability to breeze past lower-end competition in victories over Malaga and Levante. You can also argue they were somewhat unlucky to only come away with a draw against Atlético. However, they were second-best versus Real Betis and Dortmund, losing steam as the matches progressed due to how much open space they conceded.
Those back-to-back victories heading into the break have helped prop up Villarreal’s underlying numbers, having outshot the opposition 37-11. We’re still at the point of the season where dominant performances can meaningfully alter a club’s statistical profile.
All that said, the expected goal numbers look quite good. Both Statsbomb and Opta have them with the third-best xG difference in the league behind Real Madrid and Barcelona. It’s the same when only looking at 11v11 minutes, via MarkStats. After accounting for strength of schedule and red cards, they’re 4th in expected points according to Teams Lab. Something to keep track of as the season progresses will be what happens while in a winning game state. Despite the impressive territorial and shot dominance, Villarreal have not spent a lot of time with the lead in matches, which is a trend that can’t continue if they are to climb further up the table.
In terms of worry on a 1-10 scale, Villarreal are on the lower end. Their matches have been a bit more open than you’d like to see from what’s supposed to be a top 4-5 club in Spain. However, over the course of a season, constantly controlling territory and the shot count should lead to success. The schedule does get tougher over the next couple of months, with some high profile matches both domestically and in the CL. By the end of November, we’ll have a much better idea on what the floor and ceiling is for Villarreal this season.
