Arsenal vs Villarreal: Waiting for Miracles to Repeat

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Arsenal vs Villarreal game On Friday (7/5/2021). Arsenal actually have sweet memories against Villarreal

Arsenal will have a match of life and death in the semi-final leg 2 of the Europa League. On Friday 7th May, 2021. early morning WIB, they will meet Villarreal, one of the strong teams from Spain.

Gooners are at an disadvantage ahead of this match. In leg 1, they collapsed with a score of 1-2. The actions of Manu Trigueros and Raul Albiol were only able to be answered once by Gooners through Nicolas Pepe.

However, Arsenal’s potential to sting back is still there. Moreover, they have fond memories of meeting Villarreal in 2009 and 2006

1. The semifinal moment of 2006, when Gooners was shaded by luck

In the 2006 Champions League semi-finals, Arsenal and Villarreal met each other. The condition of the two teams at that time was arguably perfect. Even though they both had underdog status , they were able to beat big teams like Real Madrid, Juventus and Inter Milan.

As a result, when they met in the semifinals, a heated battle was presented. In the 1st leg at Highbury, Gooners were able to lead 1-0 over Villarreal thanks to a goal by Kolo Toure. Leg 2 at El Madrigal also features fierce battles. Villarreal actually controlled the match.

They were able to create some golden opportunities through Juan Roman Riquelme and Diego Forlan. However, luck overshadowed Arsenal at that time. Forlan failed to execute a golden opportunity, plus Riquelme who missed a penalty. Gooners won and advanced to the final, then lost to Barcelona.

2. The moment of the 2008/09 Champions League quarter-finals

Another sweet memory of Arsenal occurred in the 2008/09 Champions League quarter-finals. At that moment, Gooners met Villarreal again. The meeting this time is not so intense, considering the atmosphere of the match is slightly lower than in 2006 ago. The two teams also had many new faces.

In the 1st leg, Villarreal dominated the match and succeeded in making Arsenal difficult. The match when it ended with the score 1-1. Villarreal took the lead through Marcos Senna, before Gooners leveled the numbers through Emmanuel Adebayor.

Gooners rose in leg 2. Entertaining Villarreal at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal’s turn to present intense pressure. Villarreal, which was not strengthened by Marcos Senna and Santi Cazorla, had a hard time. Gooners finally won 3-0 and advanced to the semifinals at that time.

Despite trailing by a score of 1-2, Arsenal still have the opportunity to retaliate. However, difficult situations like 2006 could happen again for them, considering Arsenal will not be strengthened by players like David Luiz and Dani Ceballos.

Not only that, the condition of Alexandre Lacazette is also still in doubt. On the other hand, almost all of Villarreal’s best players, such as Gerard Moreno, Carlos Bacca and Daniel Parejo, are in a fit condition. Mikel Arteta, Gooners manager, needs to rack his brains in order to create a miracle.

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