Villarreal hosts Maccabi Tel Aviv in a match from Group A
Villarreal hosts Maccabi Tel Aviv in a match from Group A of the Europa League.
This is a game between the first and the last team in the group. Villarreal already won the group and they can’t be moved from the first place. They have 11 points won so far and three points advantage in front of Slavia Prague. Plus – they have better stats than Slavia in the direct clashes against the Czech team.
Villarreal are also the only unbeaten team in the group – they have three wins and two defeats in the five matches so far.
For Maccabi Tel Aviv this was a dissapointing campaign in Europa League. The Israeli club won just one point so far and they will finish the group at the last 4th place. Their only point so far was won exactly against Villarreal with a 0-0 draw in Tel Aviv.
During the weekend Villarreal will have a tough game against Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga. That’s why we shall expect to see the manager Javi Calleja giving a rest to some of his key players for this match. How we said, Villarreal already won the group, so this game is not really that important for them. We can be sure that many of the main players of the team will be rested for the clash against Barca.
For Maccabi Tel Aviv this is a matter of prestige. This will be their last game in Europe for this season, so maybe they’d want to finish their campaign on a high note. This is a good opportunity for them to do so.
Villarreal can already think about the draw for the knockout stage of the competition. They are surely a contender to reach the final stages of Europa League. They are a very good team.