FCBARCELONA.CAT

30.01.2008 14:30

Constant progression

Sandra Sarmiento

Villarreal under Manolo Pellegrini have cemented their place among the elite in the Spanish top flight after being promoted ten years and now they have their sights set on another upset at Camp Nou on Thursday evening.

It is no longer an unusual sight to see the Yellow Subamrine in the upper echelons of la Primera as they climbed steadily from a humble start after winning their place in the first division in 1998. In 2001 the team finished seventh in the table and in 2003 they qualified for Europe after winning the Intertoto Cup. A year later Villarreal made it into the Champions League and in 2006 they caused a real stir as they reached the semi finals only to be beaten by Arsenal. Now they are aiming to reach the semi finals of the Copa del Rey.

The maker, Pellegrini

A large part of the club's success story is due to Pellegrini. The Chilean coach has won more games than any of his predecessors in charge of the club as he has chalked up 62 wins in just over four seasons at the helm. He has also drawn 32 games and lost on 37 occasions, but arguably his greatest achievement was to guide the team to the semi finals of the Champions League two years ago, when only a late penalty miss from Juan Román Riquelme failed to save them from an exit at the hands of Arsenal.

Forceful in the two areas

This season, Villarreal have played 31 matches and have scored 56 times and 20 of them have come from the three outstanding stars; Nihat Kahveci, Giuseppe Rossi and Robert Pirès. The trio will all appear against Barcelona in the middle of a strong run of form. In goal, Diego López is keeping Uruguayan custodian Sebastian Viera out of the side, as he has conceded just three goals in the last four games, all of which came in the Bernabéu last weekend.

They do not know the tie

Villarreal have yet to win an away game since the turn of the year and are the only team not to have drawn o their travels throughout the entire season as they have won five and lost five. It is the same story in the cups as they were beaten by Recreativo after overcoming Las Palmas in the previous round in the Copa del Rey and have won all their games on their travels in the UEFA Cup.

Favorable statistics

A goalless draw away from home in the first leg of any cup competition is always tricky, but statistics show that Barça have a 91.6 per cent record of progressing. In their last 12 games when the Blaugrana have gone into a second leg with no goals having been scored in the opening 90 minutes and won on eleven occasions. In the nine previous meetings between Barça and Villarreal in Camp Nou, Barça have won five, drawn twice and lost twice.