{"id":170300,"date":"2025-09-16T22:31:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:31:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/champions-luiz-junior-ruins-villarreals-return-to-the-champions-league-champions-league-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T22:31:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T22:31:30","slug":"champions-luiz-junior-ruins-villarreals-return-to-the-champions-league-champions-league-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/champions-luiz-junior-ruins-villarreals-return-to-the-champions-league-champions-league-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions: Luiz J\u00fanior ruins Villarreal’s return to the Champions League | Champions League 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Actualizado <\/span>

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The \u00a0Villarreal\u00a0 curse continues in \u00a0England\u00a0. Their visit to \u00a0Tottenham Hotspur\u00a0 for the Champions League group stage opener did not break a \u00a020-year streak\u00a0 of failures as they left the British Isles without a win after their \u00a010th consecutive match\u00a0. The triumph went to \u00a0Thomas Frank’s\u00a0 team, who capitalized on a monumental error by \u00a0Luiz J\u00fanior\u00a0, allowing them to score just four minutes into the match \u2014 a scoreline that remained unchanged throughout. Villarreal\u2019s improvement in the second half went unrewarded, as they failed to hit the target even once. \u00a0[Match report and statistics (1-0)]\u00a0<\/p>\n

Villarreal’s return to the (\u00a0Champions League\u00a0) couldn\u2019t have been more disappointing. Just four minutes in, \u00a0Luiz J\u00fanior\u00a0 made a \u00a0blunder\u00a0 that set the tone for the Contest. The goalkeeper mishandled a seemingly innocuous cross from \u00a0Bergvall\u00a0, allowing the ball to slip between his fingers and into the net. <\/p>\n

Following this, there was a timid sense of response from the Castellone team against a Spurs side that showed no hesitation in conceding ground. However, \u00a0Marcelino\u00a0‘s men were uninspired in and around the box, with the attacking duo of \u00a0Ayoze\u00a0 and \u00a0Mikautadze\u00a0 appearing disconnected throughout the first half. Only \u00a0Nicolas Pepe\u00a0 seemed capable of troubling the English defense. He created most of the first-half danger, including a shot from the edge of the box that deflected for a corner and a pass that left \u00a0Buchanan\u00a0 practically alone; unfortunately, the Canadian striker missed the target entirely.<\/p>\n

On Edge with VAR<\/h2>\n

As the match progressed, the Spurs began to take control, appearing to play with more urgency than Villarreal. With quick ball circulation and increased intensity, \u00a0Bentancur\u00a0 and \u00a0Sarr\u00a0 started to assert dominance in midfield, pushing Villarreal backward in search of a second goal. The Senegalese midfielder had his chance with a powerful shot from the edge of the area, which \u00a0Luiz J\u00fanior\u00a0 managed to save well, pushing it aside with a strong hand. \u00a0Richarlison\u00a0 also came close, hitting the side netting after a deflection off \u00a0Foyth\u00a0.<\/p>\n

The \u00a0VAR\u00a0 system kept concerns alive for Villarreal with a couple of incidents in their penalty area requiring review \u2014 first, a fall from Richarlison in a tussle with \u00a0Gueye\u00a0 over a loose ball, and then a possible handball from Gueye, both of which were deemed non-penalties by the video referee.<\/p>\n

In the second half, Villarreal returned with a different approach, displaying increased intensity and pressing higher up the pitch after a first half characterized mainly by deep defensive blocks. \u00a0Marcelino’s\u00a0 team began to troublingly approach the English area more frequently, benefitting partly from \u00a0Pape Gueye’s\u00a0 interceptions of Spurs\u2019 errant passes.<\/p>\n

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Mikautadze, contested by Van de Ven, on Tuesday at Tottenham Stadium.<\/span>EFE<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After one of his interceptions, Gueye directed the ball to Pepe, whose shot went just wide of the post. A similar fate awaited a shot from outside the box after \u00a0Van de Ven\u00a0 fouled \u00a0Mikautadze\u00a0, which could have resulted in a penalty and a red card but ultimately ended with just a yellow for Van de Ven. \u00a0Simons\u00a0 also racked up a booking for a challenge deemed to stop a counterattack, yet it was \u00a0Marcelino\u00a0 who received the admonishment for his vocal protests.<\/p>\n

Villarreal\u2019s substitutions could not alter the game\u2019s outcome, as they paid dearly for their goalkeeper’s earlier mistake. Thus, the team entered the Champions League on the wrong foot, deeply expressing the need for improvement if they hope to overcome their \u00a0historical challenges\u00a0 in English territory.<\/p>\n


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General News – 2<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Actualizado Martes, 16 septiembre 2025 – 23:46 The \u00a0Villarreal\u00a0 curse continues in \u00a0England\u00a0. Their visit to \u00a0Tottenham Hotspur\u00a0 for the Champions League group stage opener did not break a \u00a020-year streak\u00a0 of failures as they left the British Isles without a win after their \u00a010th consecutive match\u00a0. The triumph went to \u00a0Thomas Frank’s\u00a0 team, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":170301,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[36710,42240],"class_list":["post-170300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-deportes","tag-deportes-futbol-champions-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170300"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170300\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/teknomers.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}