Pragmatic Spaniards offer serious threat
In seasons gone by, Arsenal against Villarreal would have been very much the artists versus the pragmatists.
The Spanish side’s Chilean coach Manuel Pellegrini has made Villarreal into a force to be reckoned with by basing his tactics first and foremost on a strong defence.
That could not have been displayed more clearly than in the group phase where Villarreal managed to finish top of the standings despite only scoring three goals in six games.
Instead, the five clean sheets enabled Pellegrini to take his side into the knock-out phases where they have twice encountered the need to attack or face defeat.
On both occasions, once against Rangers and then against Inter Milan in the quarter-final, Pellegrini altered the balance of his side with some astute substitutions and the changes came off.
Pellegrini has packed Villarreal with South Americans, and the focus of the team is the Argentinian international duo of Juan Roman Riquelme and Juan Pablo Sorin.
The South Americans have added a combative edge to the side, which nonetheless likes to play a passing game and is particular dangerous on the break.
Arsenal will be under no illusions about the task, despite Villarreal being newcomers to the European scene and hailing from a town with a population of just 40,000.
As Cesc Fabregas explained last week: “Villarreal play similar football to us. They like to keep the ball on the floor and they play a straight, simple game.
“One of their strongest weapons is on the counter-attack so we have to be careful about that. A team with so many South Americans is always going to be dangerous too, and also very hard physically.”
Arsenal’s hope is that they too have proved this season that they can be pragmatic and defend well when it counts in Europe, as a Champions League-record eight consecutive clean sheets testifies.
What could prove significant however is that Arsenal have also managed to keep scoring at the other end when it matters. Their six group matches saw 10 goals scored.
Villarreal will be more like Real Madrid in style than Juventus, and with Pellegrini’s tactical nous they are likely to prove stiffer opposition than either of Arsenal’s previous opponents.
Arsene Wenger is likely to adopt a cautious approach at Highbury tomorrow. As Inter Milan can testify, a 2-1 victory is a lot more difficult to defend against Villarreal in the second leg than a 1-0 win.
Villarreal will go for the throat at Highbury though – this is their third consecutive match of the knock-out phase where they have had home advantage for the second leg, so the value of scoring in the first leg has been hammered home.
