Affectionately known as Los Submarinos Atomicas (Atomic Submarines) they include The Beatles' Yellow Submarine as one of their theme tunes.
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| El Madrigal - Home of Villarreal |
Until this weekend they were unbeaten at home in La Liga, but they lost that record with a 2-0 defeat against Deportivo. They have not faired too well on their travels as they await their first victory. They come into Thursday's game on the back of two defeats and lie thirteenth in La Liga.
Having qualified for the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto Cup they have already played eleven times in Europe this season, their only defeat being to Spanish rivals Atletico Madrid, who they eventually beat to win the Intertoto Cup Final, on penalties.
They surprised a few people last year by reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, again after qualifying via the Intertoto Cup. On the way they beat Galatasaray, Roma and Celtic, before losing to local rivals and eventual winners Valencia.
The players to watch this season include an old Boro target Diego Forlan. The Uruguayan who flopped at Manchester United after snubbing Boro has scored four times this season.
Another player in form is midfielder Juan Roman Riquelme from Argentina. He is currently on-loan from Barcelona where he struggled to break into the first team.