Villarreal travel to Croatia this evening to lock horns with Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final. Pau Torres, the Yellow Submarine’s promising young centre-back, starts after a period struggling with injury, while the red-hot and in-form Gerard Moreno leads the line.
¡Y estos son los titulares que disputarán uno de los partidos del año para el Submarino!
¡Alineación del #Villlarreal para la ida de los cuartos de final de la @EuropaLeague 🏆!
21.00h 🆚 @gnkdinamo 🇭🇷 (Estadio Maksimir, en directo por @Gol)
¡VAAAAAAMOOOOOS 💪💪💪!#UEL pic.twitter.com/rWUyi9tV4P
— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) April 8, 2021
Villarreal are hungry for trophies, and had been tipped by many at the beginning of the season to prioritise the Europa League over La Liga. Now they’re in the business end of the season and in the moments that matter, something Unai Emery, a specialist in this competition having won it three times, knows all about.
🔵 Iyayi Atiemwen leads the line for Dinamo Zagreb; Bruno Petković is available from the bench…
🟡 Gerónimo Rulli and Pau Torres come in for Villarreal…#UEL
— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 8, 2021
Villarreal overcame Sivasspor, Qarabag FK, Maccabi Tel-Aviv, RB Salzburg and Dynamo Kyiv to get this far. Dinamo overcame Feyenoord, CSKA Moscow, Wolfsberg, Krasnodar and, most recently and most famously, Tottenham Hotspur. They came into the competition after failing to qualify for the Champions League group stage. They’re top of the Croatian league.