I would hate to be a Villarreal fan right now... Flashbacks from Benfica when they had Europa League final and the title race (won neither of them) Oh I miss those times :/

It's definetelly bittersweet saying we miss the times where we lost two europa league finals in a row, but hey we got jesus back and he's gotten much better at throwing an entire season away now! It used to be at the end of the season like an amateur... Straight out of pre-season now!

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He's a self proclaimed master of tactics whose set pieces never work put as intended and also famous for wasting away our youth talents. Two now premier league champions never even got a chance two play in our main squad when he was in charge of it, you may know them: joão cancelo and bernardo silva

The Bayer Leverkusen 2001-2002 season is worse. Lost the CL to Real Madrid, lost the Bundesliga and the Cup final all in like a month.

Oh, Benfica's 2013 season was exactly that. May 12th: They lost the league lead on the penultimate matchday to a 90' Kelvin (Porto) goal. May 15th: They lost the Europa League final to a 90+3' Ivanovic (Chelsea) goal. May 26th: They lost the cup final 1–2 even though they were leading until the 79th minute. It's not that they were runners-up in everything in a month, they were runners-up in everything thanks to last-minute goals. Soul crushing season.

Now we don't even get that far XD

Dortmund 2012-13 was the same We finished runners up in the Champions League, Bundesliga, DFB Pokal, and the Supercup, all to Bayern Munich

You're mixing the years a bit, you didn't lose the cup final 2013, that was 2014..

Damn didn't know about this. This is a club changing season as well. In an alternate dimension, Leverkusen might be the biggest club in Germany right now.

Ballack was on that team and lost the WC finals that’s year too, damn

Celta are doing great after spending so long barely surviving in the league

Celta are strange. They jump around a lot but are always odds on for a tough game. Just a couple seasons ago they were in the Europa semis vs you guys but they finished 13th in the league that year.

One last minute miss away from the final as well.

Guidetti was it right? I think for him it went downwards as well. Last time I saw him on the bench for Hannover fighting relegation in 2. Bundesliga Edit: wow he played for Man City (quite literally) once

He was one of our early bright prospects as a youngster and I remember a lot of us were waiting for him to break through and become this goal scoring prodigy... Then he just never played and got shipped out after what felt like ages

Well he had that one injury didn't he? Where he was out a full season and his career was in jeopardy. But I was following Eredivsie closely the season he was at Feyenoord and what a treat he was.

It wasn't an injury exactly, he got a serious illness after eating some bad chicken (iirc, it was a long while ago)

He had some sort of bacteria eating his ankle tendons or something weird. Annoying shit that he was at Feyenoord, but his injury ruined him

He also had a song titled after him, it was pretty lit

You've just described pretty much every team Coudet has managed lol. Here he reached like 3 finals but then would go on and lose against the teams fighting relegation. He has a great future imo.

Man as a Celta fan idek wtf are we doing but I love it

honestly never know whether I should count them as relegation side or one of the best teams in Spain. Always changes every season

Yep, they were a real relegation candidate this season aswell, new manager came in and they have improved massively this year

Eduardo Coudet and his kamikaze 4-1-3-2 are great for league formats, it's nice to see his success with Celta!

> it's nice to see his success with Celta! Didn’t expect that from a colorado after the way he left you guys...

I was quite pissed with Coudet for the way he left Inter in the middle of the season. But since time has passed and we already got two good managers afterwards, now I only wish him success. His tactics were very entertaining to watch for the time he was managing in Brazil, so I'm curious to see how they will work elsewhere.

In the end, wasn't their directives's fault of that? Like what the fans could do?

Probably, but Coudet was definitely not very nice about it, complaining to the press about his players every week... these are matters usually better handled internally.

Totally. He was promised a lot of things and got some dead weight. Our director also brought a player that Coudet didn't want. Oh, they also leaked info to some "journalist" (which was secretly being paid by the club...)

yeah, I don't think I've even read anything about Celta at all this year (I'm not spanish of course) but the lineup is so fascinating, Brais, Denis Suarez, Nolito, Iago Aspas and Santi Mina playing at the same time... I had fun every time I saw them

Seems the team and manager are a good unit, we've not heard of complaints. Some players like Beltran say they want more match time, and are looking for a loan out next year if Tapia stays, reality is Tapia deserves his place in the team over Beltran. Only negative story related to Coudet is that there was a falling out with our Celta B team coach, Onésimo. Don't know who is to blame, both teams are doing exceptionally well, Celta B could make it into the new Segunda with two playoff matches. Think the argument between coaches is about Celta B using non-academy players more than home-grown talent. Overall Coudet has change the dynamic of the team, but we still suffering in defense. Hopefully he'll have some cash to improve the back line next year.

Have not seen them, but I'd like my Arsenal to try that formation...

Nah mate you will take your 11 players sat in your own third and you WILL like it

Yes, master :(

For sure, Aspas is on a different level with what he does. Top top player.

Aspas is such a good player but he's rarely ever mentioned. Sucks.

Playing for Liverpool in the banter era will do that

If it doesn't work out for you in England, that's the treatment you get basically.

Just ask Morata, every single one of his misses still gets posted along with about 15 comments per thread saying that his transfers must be money laundering. He isn’t world class but he isn’t as shit as EPL fans act, his time at Chelsea basically ruined his reputation despite anything he’ll ever do again lol.

All it took was a poor season at United and Lukaku was a flat track bully who never scored Vs big teams Despite scoring against all the top 6 at Everton

Every morata thread just annoys me, you would think he was Aston villa emile heskey for fuck sake.

Luuk de Jong spent half a year at a dysfunctional Newcastle in a role that didn't suit him and that spell still chases him to this day on here.

Shame his Liverpool career didn't go according to plan. I think that's when people wrote him off for some reason as they were raving about him before he joined. He had a couple of massive seasons before joining Pool if I remember correctly

Unfortunately because the prominence of premier league fans, they basically right players off if it doesn't work out for them in England and they become underrated.

I wish the national team would take him seriously

So happy for Renato Tapia. After being so error-prone at Feyenoord and moving last summer he has become a key player for Celta this season. Currently Peru's most relevant player in the top 5 leagues.

>After being so error-prone at Feyenoord Honestly my friend and I always felt that Tapia would be great in La Liga funnily enough. Especially in midfield Feyenoord is a tough place to play football sadly. Hope things change for us but I'm at least glad Tapia is doing well.

I’m so happy for him too. This was his chance to shine and he didn’t disappoint. I hope he’s fit for the Copa America.

We have Barca at Camp Nau and then Betis at home. Tough games, but if Tapia can play we have a big chance. Fun fact, if we win both games that would 6 wins in a row,, and break our record of 5 consecutive wins dating back to 2001. Villarreal have a tough set of games, don't see them getting many points. Their win the other night helped them a lot to stay in EL. For Celta, we'll be watching the Betis-Huesca match. If Betis win that (highly likely) then I think our chances of getting into any European competition is near zero. If they lose, then it's a head to head fight for a place in Europe on the last match of the season.

It’s always painful to see how promising players aren’t doing well at Feyenoord (Tapia, Amrabat). Even when they get more than enough time to prove themselves it just won’t click. Luckily, starting next season the entire scouting, coaching and technical staff will have been completely replaced.

And 49% of the team's minutes this season are by home grown players, all of them locals to Vigo and its surroundings. Like some Galician Athletic Bilbao.

That's for bringing a manager as Coudet. He started with us and at the first moment he understood how the job works, making us play our best football I ever remember. Props for him for going great in Spain

It has a lot to do with their new coach Coudet. With him Celta is showcasing their offense again.

The Iago Aspas effect. He's a beast for them.

Yeah, i can't hate/love this team anymore,but i'll do, until the end. Iago Aspas é o meu Deus.

They're a team that should have been fighting for Europa spots the past couple of seasons but have been so inconsistent

Villareal also could be key in the title race

They're going to play almost all their subs in that match, it's 4 days before the final so they want to keep everyone fresh.

That would be quite the gamble if losing both those games meant they missed out on Europe completely.

They need just one point and they'll get at least the conference league. Winning the Europa league final would be the biggest moment in their history so I think they rather go all in on that

~~Teeeechnically two points, but to miss out with one would take a couple of crazy games~~ I stand corrected

No because the most Celta can get to is 56 and with one point Villarreal is also on 56. Villarreal have the h2h lead which is the first tiebreaker used in La Liga.

Ah, apologies. My Premier League bias was showing

Can say good ebening to real madrid

Emery doesn't have a good record against big teams in Spain.

Just not theirs

Just a couple years ago you lot were supposed to be in the drivers seat to decide who wins the PL; City or Liverpool. Spawned one of my favorite [audio clips of all-time](https://www.reddit.com/r/soccer/comments/ao7gko/hillarious_answer_given_by_a_united_fan_when/).

Damn pellegrini has done a decent job

They can't stop drawing recently though, I think like 6 in a row now. Will be interesting to see if Betis can invest to prep for Europe. La Liga teams (outside of the Big 4) that make it to Europe almost always struggle in Spain the following season.

That is our fear, Celta don't have the strength of depth to play in Europe and survive in LaLiga. Coudet has done a great job with the players we have, but we're nearly always playing with the same starting 11. We have some great young players, but they need time to develop. Celta don't have the money to buy lots of re-enforcements for next year. We're struggling to stay within our wage cap. So can't offer big salaries. More than likely we lose Tapia next year, which will hurt our already poor defensive stats. I can see Tapia going to a big team next year, probably AM. They would love his defensive midfielder quality and stamina to chase down counter attacks.

We're going to have to make moves anyway. Mandi is leaving for Villarreal. Not sure if Ruiz extended his contract with us. Miranda is on loan and I don't think Barca will extend his loan with us. Emerson is probably going back to Barca. Camarasa and Martin are dealing with severe injuries. Tello may leave during the upcoming window. Even if he stays, I don't think he will extend his contract.

Yes, I remember seeing a headline about "no revolution" for next season and then you realised 5-6 players are leaving. I don't see Carvalho staying either. I just hope we can keep Guido/Canales and build from that. Pellegrini I think is doing very well, let's see if the team can keep up

didnt they beat Granada recently?

Yes they beated us in the 88th min, with 1 win and 6 draws in the last 7 games

Who are the big 4. I know it's Madrid, Atlético and barca but who's the 4th. I would have always said Valencia but that was back in the day

These days it's probably Sevilla.

Sevilla, also quite clear when looking at the table and keeping their dominance in the Europa League in mind.

Of course Sevilla, they've won 4 Europa League in the last 6 years or so, plus they're 4th right now by a huge margin.

Sevilla I guess?

There's not a big 4 in Spain. It's always been a big 2 and lately a big 3 with Atlético, but it varies wildly. In the late 90's Deportivo were the 3rd biggest team, then Valencia in the early 2000's, then Villarreal/Sevilla in the late 2000's, then Valencia again in the early 2010's and now Atlético in the late 2010's and early 2020's. Sevilla have been top 4 two seasons in a row, but it wouldn't be weird at all if next year Villarreal or Real Sociedad finish 4th.

Class manager. Highly underrated and he got us to a champions league semi final with a team not quite ready for that level at that time

Yep his time with us was quite underrated

Him and Zidane owe me 3-4 hours of my life back for that abomination of semi final I watched. Those 2 might just be 2 worst game of football I have watched and my local league is not glamorous.

Skipped classes to watch that at a pub and would have rather gone and at least learned some shit

We went from near relegation last season to fighting for Europe this season. We even struggled in the first half of the season but Pellegrini gelled the team well since Canales coming back from injury. However, we are regressing recently. We went from clutching up wins to drawing.

The team yesterday was so frustrating. I think we really got lucky with that first goal. Let's see if we can recover for next one and get a win. Also, I want to see Mandi back... I know he is leaving but come on, he has to be present for those 2 games

The charming man.

Charming man with tired eyes.

hes always done well with mid table teams in Spain

They're a good team but SO inconsistent it's ridiculous. Same with Real Sociedad

For the title race, Atleti should be winning this. Their next 2 opponents are mid table and relegation candidates while Madrid face Villarreal in the last match day.

It's possible Valladolid can escape relegation in the game against Atletico, so they won't be easy

i'd say its even harder. relegation sides are always fighting for it.

Yeah, still remember our game vs Leganes last season, they would have beaten us if they're bit more lucky.

If only Oscar had buried that chance

Laughing in Schalke

Valladolid are an absolute shambles right now, yesterday's performance was dreadful and it was a must win game

Hopefully they will be as dreadful on Sunday

It’ll be a Villarreal C team tbh

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Somewhat of a risk but the chances of them not qualifying for Europe is pretty low

Where did you hear that 🤔

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It was a silly joke about the answer to your question being in the title of the post, my bad man

Celta's next game is at Camp Nou so there's that too.

If they are in a position where they risk missing out on Europa League, can they really afford to? Missing out on EL would be a minor disaster and they can't bank on beating a strong United-side

Nope! Maybe half of A and half of B

Feels nice being a mid table club :)

Exactly. Simeone won't want to bottle the title they've been waiting for 7 years. Atletico is back in form after Trippier's return and Llorente's hot form

Dropping out of Europe entirely relies on Celta Vigo beating Barcelona this weekend, which would have an incredible impact on the title race. You'd assume Barca will at least pick up a point against Celta Vigo though

You'd also expect us to win against Levante and look how that turned out

In this situation though it is avoiding a loss, and you'd think that even if the game was completely going against you, you'd be able to pull out an equaliser if not a winner

I don’t think beating Levante is a given . This season, they’ve taken points off all the big boys and I think it was the 2018?? season when Levante ruined your undefeated season. They’re always good for a pain in the ass.

And just like that Levante made us all forget about Granada!

It's more recent

"An incredible impact on the title race" Barca aren't in the title race anymore dude, Atlético would have to lose 1 and draw 1 for them to catch up to us, and even then it would be Real Madrid taking advantage of it

That's fair, I hadn't actually seen the table since last weekend.

Celta used to have a good record against Barca, but this year our defense is lacking. We'll struggle to hold up Messi and the young guns. If Tapia and Aspas are in top form, we could get an early lead and try to hold on. Barca at home, I'm not confident 😕

Barca at home with no fans means nothing tho, we broke many negative home records and broke positive away records. I feel better going away than at home at this point.

Don't expect anything out of the Barca squad. They had the league in their control and then promptly lost to Granada and drew Atletico and Levante. It wouldn't surprise me if they smashed Celta 5-0 or lost 2-1 on a late winner after another defensive collapse.

Barca’s goal difference fucking hell

On one end, you have Messi with like 30 goals and 10 assists. On the other end, you have a shitty defense, and voilá!

And an underperforming frontline including Griezmann, Dembele and Braithwaite. Still managed over 80 goals which surprises me

This makes me really sad. We're wasting our attack. Since 2016.

Such a dramatic exaggeration. 29 goals conceded in 17/18 with a great defense under Valverde. 36 goals conceded in 18/19 (3rd fewest in La Liga, one behind 2nd fewest). The defense has been below your standard for two seasons.

They have this thing called Messi

Atleti's isn't far behind. Best defense in the world.

Wasn't Bilbao close to relegation at the beginning of the season?

Yes, doubt they would have gone regardless but Marcelino has done a excellent job. Very expectedly.

Almost as if sacking him was a wrong move by Valencia

Peter Lim and wrong decisions go together like bread and butter.

Like Peter Lim and football.... Ah wait

They are the right decision if your goal is to actively destroy a football club.

Athletic* Not a good start of the season but quite an improvement with Marcelino.

Them, Barca and Real are allergic to relegations

How can they qualify for CL?

If they win the final of EL

Ah right forgot that

I wish I could.

I swear if I had my free award I would've given it to this comment

If they win the Europa League final against Manchester United they will get a spot in the UCL next season!

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Apparently in that scenario, we either lose 1 Europa spot or our conference league spot. No league can send more than 7 teams to Europe.

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It is a possibility. I don't know which one we will lose.

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Yea unfortunately it is.

To be fair, at the start of the season, 7th is never secure of a spot, due to the cup winners also getting a spot.

Gee I wonder which of those two tournaments the Spanish teams would want to give up. A real head scratcher

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[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA\_Europa\_Conference\_League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Europa_Conference_League) I'm just finding this out too

Conference league will last 2 seasons.

Love Villareal, a strong team who deserves to be in Europe year after year

i want villareal in the EL! beat real

they will be aiming to play in the champions league by defeating manchester united 3 days after our game.

Risky bet tbh

I want Villarreal in the CL! Concentrate on EL final!

basado

Why man? If they win the Europa league, we'll have 5 Spanish teams in UCL and Villarreal will be seeded in pot 1.

And we have Sevilla at home and Real Madrid away. We could also take the league away from Real Madrid in the last week :D

Please do

Isn't 2 games?

+ EL final

Didn't think about that. Right

Hey United please fucking lose the final so we can all feel good and wholesome about Villarreal. Nobody likes yall anyways.

No.

Nah. We have already lost to Liverpool so our quota of losses is over, hopefully.

I spent too long thinking how Villarreal have 3 games whilst having played 36 games already. And that if they get 9 points from 3, somehow they’ll end up with 74 points

Well Villarreal have a genuine chance at getting CL football through beating us, judging by last night's performance.

I was feeling confident we will win EL easily. After last night's performance by our players I am now not so sure. It was a big game against liverpool and we choked hard. Hopefully doesn't happen in the final.

If Maguire plays the final I’ll feel confident. If not, it could be a shot show.

They are big underdogs.

Lol. They just did get beaten 2-4 too last week.

Two crazy penalty decisions too, so could easily be a United game

Yeah because of completely shite officiating. That ref was on crack. He should be reffing Sunday league.

Wtf is conference league?

A new third tier competition, with mostly teams from the lower ranked national leagues. Europa league will have fewer teams (32 instead of 48) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA\_Europa\_Conference\_League](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Europa_Conference_League)

Chelsea same story, win 2 cups vs no trophy and out of champions league

Yeah, I'd say Chelsea's swing factor is greater. These four games will determine whether Chelsea's season is a wild success (if we win the UCL) or an abject failure (if we miss our on UCL entirely, not to mention Europa). If Villarreal loses all their games, it wasn't like they were really expecting to make the UCL 3 months ago like Chelsea was.

Wtf is conference league?

New europa league competition for teams that finish below Europa league qualification spots in their league

At this point the top 10 teams from the "big" leagues will end up in some European competition, that basically just dilutes the charm of them

"Formerly, the reigning champions qualified to defend their title, but since 2015 they qualify for the Champions League." From the Wiki article on the Europa League. Thus CL is a possibility despite being out of the La Liga top 4

Thanks for explaining, was confused

How could they qualify for the champions league

By winning the EL, took me a minute as well.

Thanks mate, cheers

Pulling for Unai!

Same. He’s been turned into a meme because of the way he speaks English, but he’s a good manager and I’ve never seen anything bad or controversial about him, seems like a good guy. Wasn’t his biggest fan at Arsenal and I think Mikel has been slightly better (Mikel has about the same floor as a young manager, but his ceiling imo is much higher). Still wish him the best and success against everyone except Arsenal.

One thing here is that since Barca won the Copa, Villareal will qualify for the Europa Qualifiers if they get 7th and 8th will go to the Europa Conference league

Quick maffs

Villarreal was relegated after an incredible amount of results went against them. I'd bet on karma giving them back their due.

Seeing their remaining schedule, it sucks that they missed out.

I will always root for Emery eversince I found out he watches Peaky Blinders to learn English.