Villarreal vs Málaga Match Preview
Malaga visits the Madrigal, eager to repeat Levante's success and bag the full scoring against one of the top revelations of this tournament.
The hosts will be missing midfielder Marcos Senna, who plays a vital role in Villarreal's general scheme. The Spanish-Brazilian international injured his hamstring in Napoli and it is yet unknown how long will it take for him to recover. Carlos Marchena did a flawless work by replacing Senna as the main playmaker in San Paolo.
Injuries have decimated Malaga's squad. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already with Sergio Asenjo, Jesús Gámez, Duda and Javier Malagueño ruled out with injuries, now that Julio Baptista joined the list it looks like Pellegrini will have a lot of work to keep Boquerones' last hope alive.
Brazilian international Julio Baptista will be sidelined for at least a month, forcing Pellegrini to rearrange his formation for the matches to come. Even worst, team's captain and goalkeeper Francesc Arnau is in doubt for this clash.
An important game for Villarreal to recover its confidence and a major test for Malaga, as time will be soon running out for Pellegrini's boys without a few victories. Who'll claim the three points?