Villarreal’s first round of 16 appearance in 13 years pits them against a Juventus side who are in the knockout rounds for the eighth successive campaign.
• While the Spanish side are making only their third appearance in the knockout rounds, their Italian opponents have featured on 17 previous occasions.
• Juve come into this tie as Group H winners having overtaken holders Chelsea in the final moments on Matchday 6. Villarreal also came through some last-day drama in the group stage, a 3-2 victory at Atalanta giving them second place in Group F at the expense of the Italian team.
• This is the sides’ first meeting – the only tie in the round of 16 in which the clubs have never previously played against each other.
Form guide
1. Villarreal
• The Spanish side picked up ten points in this season’s group stage to reach the round of 16, finishing one point behind Manchester United having lost 2-1 away and 2-0 at home against the team they beat in last season’s UEFA Europa League final.
• Only four of Villarreal’s points came at home, where they drew 2-2 against Atalanta on Matchday 1 and beat Young Boys 2-0 before losing to United.
• Seventh in the Spanish Liga in 2020/21, Villarreal’s UEFA Europa League triumph means they are playing in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final, for the fourth time, and the first since 2011/12.
• That most recent campaign was also their least successful, Villarreal losing all six games to finish bottom of a section that also included Bayern München, Napoli and Manchester City.
• This is the Yellow Submarine’s third appearance in the UEFA Champions League knockout rounds. Semi-finalists on debut in 2005/06, they made it to the quarter-finals three years later – both campaigns ended by Arsenal.
• In 2020/21, Unai Emery’s team cruised to first place in UEFA Europa League Group I ahead of Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Sivasspor and Qarabağ to reach the round of 32 for the eighth time before comfortably disposing of UEFA Champions League group stage participants Salzburg (2-0 a, 2-1 h) and Dynamo Kyiv (2-0 a, 2-0 h). They also won both quarter-final matches against Dinamo Zagreb (1-0 a, 2-1 h) and then knocked out Emery’s former employers Arsenal in the semi-final (2-1 h, 0-0 a) before beating Manchester United 11-10 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Gdańsk final. Villarreal were undefeated in Europe in 2020/21 with 11 wins and three draws.
• The defeat of United came in Villarreal’s first major European final, though they were twice winners of the UEFA Intertoto Cup (2003, 2004) having finished as runners-up in 2002.
• Villarreal were defeated 6-5 on penalties by UEFA Champions League holders Chelsea after a 1-1 draw in the UEFA Super Cup on 11 August in Belfast.
• With that counted as a draw, the defeat at United on Matchday 2 this season ended Villarreal’s 26-match unbeaten run against non-Spanish opposition in European matches (W16 D10), since a 1-0 loss at home to Lyon in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg.
• That Matchday 4 defeat of Young Boys ended Villarreal’s seven-game winless run at home in the UEFA Champions League, group stage to final (D4 L3). They won all six home games in last season’s UEFA Europa League and were unbeaten in eight home European matches (W7 D1) before losing to Manchester United on Matchday 5.
• Villarreal have won both their previous UEFA Champions League round of 16 ties, against Rangers in 2005/06 (2-2 a, 1-1 h, won on away goals) and Panathinaikos in 2008/09 (1-1 h, 2-1 a); both their previous home games at this stage have therefore finished 1-1.
• The 3-2 Matchday 6 win at Atalanta was only Villarreal’s second away success against Serie A sides (D4 L5), Arnaut Danjuma scoring twice to seal second place in Group F.
• Danjuma had also found the net in Villarreal’s 2-2 draw against Atalanta on Matchday 1, their first game against an Italian side since the 2016/17 UEFA Europa League round of 32, when they were eliminated by Roma (0-4 h, 1-0 a).
• That loss to Roma ended Villarreal’s perfect record in knockout ties against Italian sides; they had won the first six. Roma’s 4-0 victory at Villarreal was the first home knockout game against Serie A visitors that the Spanish club had not won, a six-match run that included five clean sheets.
2. Juventus
• Juve won five of their six Group H games, the exception a 4-0 loss at Chelsea in the penultimate round of matches. Juventus, who had beaten the holders 1-0 in Turin on Matchday 2, therefore trailed the English club on head-to-head record going into Matchday 6, when a 1-0 win at home to Malmö, coupled with a late Zenit equaliser against Chelsea, allowed them to leapfrog their opponents to claim first place.
• Juve’s two other away games in this season’s group stage brought wins at Malmö (3-0) and Zenit (1-0).
• A team coached by Andrea Pirlo won five of their six games in last season’s group stage. For the second season running, however, Juventus bowed out on away goals in the round of 16, losing on aggregate to Porto (1-2 a, 3-2 h aet).
• Juve’s record run of nine successive Serie A titles was ended by Inter in 2020/21.
• Pirlo was replaced as Juventus coach in the summer, Massimiliano Allegri returning to the club he led to the 2015 and 2017 UEFA Champions League finals during his previous spell in charge between 2014 and 2019.
• The 4-0 loss at Chelsea was the first time Juve had been beaten by four goals in the UEFA Champions League era; it was their heaviest European defeat since going down by the same scoreline at Celta Vigo in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup fourth round second leg. It was also Juve’s biggest European Cup loss since a 7-0 reverse at Wiener SC in the 1958/59 preliminary round second leg, their first tie in the competition.
• Juve have nevertheless won seven of their last ten away European games (L3).
• Juventus are in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 for the 13th time (W7 L5); they have lost their last two ties on away goals, against Lyon in 2019/20 (0-1 a, 2-1 h) and Porto last season, having won the previous three.
• Juve’s last games against Spanish opponents came in last season’s group stage, when they lost 2-0 at home to Barcelona on Matchday 2 before a 3-0 Matchday 6 victory in Spain, Weston McKennie scoring the second goal in a win that took the Turin team above their opponents in the final standings.
• That made it six victories in Juve’s last nine matches against Spanish clubs, home and away (D1 L2), although it was only their fourth victory in their last 12 games in Spain (D3 L5). Their overall away record against Liga opposition is W7 D7 L17.
• Juventus have won ten of their 17 two-legged ties against Spanish clubs, including the last, in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League round of 16 when they overturned a 2-0 first-leg defeat at Atlético de Madrid with a 3-0 success in Turin.
UEFA