Broadcast info
Who's playing: An interesting battle awaits as Villarreal lock horns with Roma in the first leg of their round of 32 Europa League tie on Thursday evening.
What time: Tuesday, February 16th at 12:05 PST/15:05 EST/20:05 GMT/21:05 CET
What stadium: This game will be played at Estadio de la Cerámica. Formerly known as the El Madrigal, Villarreal's home ground can seat up to 24,890 fans.
Which channel:
- In the USA: Fox Soccer 2GO USA, fuboTV, SiriusXM FC, Fox Sports 2 USA, Fox Sports GO, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes USA, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN Deportes+ USA
- In Spain: beIN Sports Spain, beIN Sports Connect España, Movistar+
- In Italy: MTV8, RSI La 2, Sky Sport 1 HD Italia, Sky Calcio 1
- In the UK: BT Sport Extra, BT Sport Live Streaming, BT Sport Showcase
- In Canada: beIN Sports Canada, fuboTV Canada, beIN SPORTS CONNECT Canada
*View up-to-date broadcast listings
Match facts & stats
- Interestingly, all four of Villarreal's home European ties have finished as a 2-1 result (W2 D2)
- The Yellow Submarine's record in 18 games against Italian sides is W7 D5 L6
- At home, that record is W7 D1 L1, whilst in Italy, it's W0 D4 L5
- Roma's 26 matches against Spanish teams have ended W9 D4 L13
- In Spain, their record is W3 D3 L7, whilst at home, it's W6 D1 L6
- The Giallorossi are the first team to score in each of their last 8 matches
A tactical battle awaits between a strong defense and ferocious attack
Villarreal
The Yellow Submarine come into this game having settled for a 1-1 draw against Malaga over the weekend. Despite being pretty solid, with just four losses all season and two in their last 14 games, the draws are costing Fran Escribá's side, who sit in sixth place in La Liga. Nine draws mean a whopping 18 points dropped out of a possible 27. As such, their only remaining chance at any silverware this season remains this edition of the Europa League. Villarreal failed to qualify for the Champions League after losing both home and away to Monaco during the two-legged play-off, and last season, were knocked out by Liverpool at the Europa League semi-finals.
To date, Villarreal have scored just 29 goals in La Liga, which makes them one of the weakest attacks in the league. In comparison, Real Sociedad (fifth) have 36, whilst Atletico Madrid (fourth) have 39, and Sevilla (third) have 44. That's not even mentioning perpetual title challengers Barcelona and Real Madrid, who predictably have the highest-scoring attacks with 61 and 54 respectively. However, the Yellow Submarine make up for this deficiency by boasting the best defense in the league. With just 15 goals conceded, Villarreal have done better than Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, and Real Madrid, who have shipped 18, and have less than half given up than that of Real Sociedad's 31.
Roberto Soldado has finally recovered from his injury but will not be expected to feature, but Cedric Bakambu should be able to re-claim his spot in the starting XI.
Roma
Meanwhile, Roma earned a 2-0 win over Crotone to remain in second place. However, the Giallorossi are seven points behind Juventus with 14 games to go. That does not mean that they are out of the Scudetto race just yet, but they will obviously need for the Bianconeri to slip-up. Still, Luciano Spalletti's side are in contention for other trophies: the Coppa Italia and in theory, the Europa League.
Since dropping down into European club football's second tier competition - after being shockingly beaten by Porto at the Stadio Olimpico during their Champions League play-off - Roma have done quite well. They made it through their group stage sans defeat, with three wins and three draws. And domestically, with 50 goals, they have nearly double the total of upcoming opponents Villarreal, which put them only second to Napoli (57) in terms of most goals scored.
The Lupi aren't all just about attack, attack, attack. Since Spalletti made some modifications to the team's formation, they have also tightened things up a bit at the back. They put four past Fiorentina without reply, during which they set a new club record for the most consecutive wins at the Stadio Olimpico (14). All in all, they have conceded 21, which is only bettered by Juventus's 16, and in terms of personnel, Alessandro Florenzi will be the only absentee for the visitors.
Who will emerge victorious in what could be a tactical battle between a mean defense and ferocious attack?
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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