Villarreal (Image via @VillarrealCF ‘X’)
New Delhi: Villarreal’s top bosses have time and again noted that it is not due to one individual that their academy produced Ball d’Or winner Rodri. Despite being a small-sized city they have trained the likes of Rodri, Alex Baena, Nicolas Jackson and Pau Torres. The 1998-99 was their first season at the top flight of Spanish football and over the span of 26 years, they have produced some highly talented and outstanding achievers of football.
Since then they have managed to qualify for Europe 19 times and on three occasions reached the semi-final of the Champions League, which were in 2006, 2016 and 2022 and had even beaten Manchester United in the 2021 Europa League final. This season happens to be one of the rare occasions when they are not in European football but still having a great season in the domestic circuit.
The Yellow Submarines are currently fifth and are fighting Athletic Bilbao for La Liga’s best-of-the-rest place, behind Atletico Madrid, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Villareal’s chief executive Fernando Roig was recently quoted saying that there is no one person who can be credited for being the one behind the success.
Many have drawn parallels with Villarreal’s performance with American hit series Ted Lasso. In the show, the story revolves around a small team called AFC Richmond who are managed by an American named Ted Lasso. The part that often rings with everyone is that both the fictional team and Villarreal are small teams that use their oneness to fight bigger teams.
In the case of Villarreal, they build their team from absolute nothingness, influencing their players from a much younger age. In their youth academy, they have 800 players from 45 teams, 39 of which are boys’ teams and six are girls’ teams. Four years ago when Villarreal won the Europa League, 16 of the players in the squad were from the club’s academy.
Their main centre of base happens to Jose Manuel Llaneza training ground which opened in 1998. More than 100 academy players are permanently on the site where there’s even a mini stadium. It has a big impact on the club and this training ground is one of the primary reasons that per resident there are more pitches than any of the other Spanish cities.
Spanish winger Baena has said that living with this club feels like a “second family”, who started his journey with the club at the age of 10. He admitted that despite the small size of the town, there are more facilities than other clubs. The 23-year-old is Villarreal’s latest success story, who was in the Spanish squads that won the Euros and Olympic Gold in 2024. He has the second-most assists in La Liga this season.
Rodri, it’s yours! Our 2024 Ballon d’Or!#ballondor pic.twitter.com/qk5LDgCsJa
— Ballon d’Or (@ballondor) October 28, 2024
During his young days at Villarreal, Baena admits he looked up to players like Gerard Moreno and Santi Carzola. The coming generation obviously will look at him and Manchester City player Rodri. The four-time Premier League and Champions League winner is looked at as someone who is looked at as Villarreal’s very own.
Roig noted that Rodri grew at the club and his development very much came during his stay at the club.
The then 16-year-old hadn’t played the year before coming to Villarreal at Atletico Madrid. Five seasons later, Rodri headed to Atletico Madrid in 2018 and the very next season he was at Man City, arriving at the Etihad Stadium for £62m deal. It was Rodri who scored the winner at the 2023 Champions League final for City against Inter Milan and was crucial in 2024 for Spain’s 2024 Euros victory.
He was awarded the Ballon d’Or, one of the highest honours in football last year for his outstanding performance and this was something Villarreal celebrated too and you can understand the emotions behind it.
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