Villarreal’s impressive offense and current La Liga power

With 12 games remaining, Villarreal are level on points with Atletico Madrid in LaLiga. They are on course to finish in the top four for the first time in ten years, and the riches of Champions League football for the second year in a row.

On the face of it, it has been a fantastic season for the yellow submarine, which finds itself in a strong position to establish itself as the “fourth team” in Spain’s top flight at a time when playing at Europe’s top level is more lucrative than ever.

Their attacking style is consistently effective in LaLiga, and they could think of some smart summer business, with the likes of Alberto Moleiro, Georges Mikautadze and Santiago Mouriño impressing.

However, it is impossible to assess Villarreal’s campaign without considering their poor performance in the Champions League, as well as a number of poor performances in the big domestic games.

Abysmal in Europe and failed to get a glove in the top teams in Spain

The Yellow Submarine finished one place down in the 36-team UCL league stage. Only a slightly higher goal difference saw them edge out Kazakh side Kairat, who have collected just one point from eight games.

Although they were somewhat unlucky to lose 1-0 at Tottenham on the opening day of the match, and held Juventus to a 2-2 draw two weeks later, Villarreal’s European campaign quickly took a turn for the worse. Despite benefiting from an easy fifth schedule (according to Opta), Marcelino’s side have lost all of their remaining games, with defeats against Pafos, Ajax and FC Copenhagen almost incomprehensible in the context of their promising league season.

Villarreal also found it difficult when facing the best teams in Spain. Even in recent poor campaigns, they have often been one of the few clubs able to upset LaLiga’s top sides. However, that did not play out this term, as all five of their games against the “big three” ended in defeats by two or more goals.

The 4-1 defeat at the Camp Nou against a Lamine Yamal-inspired Barcelona on Saturday was the latest, and now predictable, failure of one of the big boys.

They also limped off in a 2-0 home defeat against a flawed Real Madrid side in January, producing just 0.57 xG per 90 minutes in a game they have lost once in the last eight seasons in Spain’s top flight.

Rule over everyone

Villarreal’s position in the top four comes thanks to an almost flawless record against everyone. They have dropped just five points in 18 games against teams outside the top six.

That’s the best record in the division, and at some points, Real Madrid dropped 12 points against clubs ranked seventh or lower, while Barcelona dropped 11 points.

Defensively, Villarreal have been very assured this season. Now they are like a typical Marcelino team because they are able to apply pressure in many games and score well on the break.

While Ayoze Perez hasn’t reached the heights of last term, and Gerard Moreno has endured another injury-plagued campaign, attacking depth has been vital in the first half of the season when there are still European commitments to contend with.

Moleiro scored the most on the left side, with nine goals and four assists in LaLiga, while Mikautadze trailed behind with 12 goals. Nicolas Pepe and Tajon Buchanan also chipped in with key strikes, while providing pace and power to trouble weaker teams in transition all season.

Making sense of the odd season at Ceramica

“We have to improve,” Marcelino said after his side’s comeback against Barcelona on Saturday.

“There is a clear pattern with the Champions League games, we could have picked up more points in the Champions League with the big teams, but we made stupid mistakes.

“I don’t want to focus on 3-1 (Yamal’s hat-trick goal) because it upsets me a lot. Competing against these teams, you can’t make those mistakes.”

Villarreal’s curious season may also speak volumes for the current lack of depth in LaLiga. Traditional holders Valencia and Sevilla are now mired in relegation, Athletic Club have underperformed, and Real Sociedad are considered relegated ahead of a dramatic turnaround under new manager Pellegrino Matarazzo since the start of the year.

The surprise package of early season Espanyol remain winless in 2026, but they are still in seventh place in LaLiga, and do not look like breaking out of the top half, with a bunch of unsatisfying sides under them struggling to build any real momentum.

With the possible exception of Claudio Giraldez’s Celta Vigo, real success stories are hard to come by this season. Even fans of fifth-placed Real Betis were frustrated by much of what they saw, with many turning against their team following a poor second-half performance in last weekend’s Seville derby.

Although it is still far from over, perhaps Villarreal’s exceptional record is merely indicative of this current era of football. At a time when Premier League clubs can snap up top talent from anyone outside of LaLiga’s top three, it doesn’t take much to be the best in Spain.

It is possible that Athletic will come back strong next season, and Real Sociedad will continue to rebuild. However, the overall trend points to the decline of the chasing pack, with Los Leones also failing to advance to the first round of the Champions League.

That raises broader questions about LaLiga’s financial model and what, if anything, can be done to give second-tier clubs a fighting chance to close the gap on the top three and better compete in Europe’s biggest leagues.

With a sensible transfer policy, one of the best schools in the business, and another UCL fund close at hand, Villarreal is still the best-placed club in the division, as a confusing season at the Ceramica draws to a close.