Villarreal continue upward curve

Villarreal may be a new name on the European scene but are they fast making their mark at the highest level.

The modest club from Vila-Real in the province of Castellon, north of Valencia on Spain’s east coast, have big ambition and find only Arsenal standing between them and an unlikely Champions League final appearance.

The Yellow Submarines, as they are known, play at the compact 26,000-capacity El Madrigal stadium and only won promotion to the Primera Liga for the first time in 1998.

They were immediately relegated but returned to the top flight in 2000 and have been on an upward curve since.

They appeared in Europe for the first time in 2002, having qualified for the Intertoto Cup, and a year later they went through that competition and all the way to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Neighbours Valencia finally knocked them out but they had caught the eye, beating the likes of Roma, Galatasaray and Celtic along the way and in 2005 they again reached the UEFA Cup’s last eight.

They followed that up by securing third place in the Primera Liga, thanks in no small part to the goals of Manchester United misfit Diego Forlan, and with that came a shot at the Champions League.

Their remarkable run began as they overcame Everton in the qualifying round and they reached the knock-out stages after coming through a group including Manchester United unbeaten.

A third British side, Rangers, were then dispatched on away goals in the last 16 before a shock triumph over Inter Milan to reach the semi-finals.

They were beaten 2-1 at the San Siro but the away goal proved crucial as a 1-0 success at El Madrigal put them through.