Kovac wary of ‘Yellow Submarine’ despite Villarreal’s slow start | OneFootball

Situation

Borussia Dortmund have made an excellent start to the season. BVB have won two out of two in the Bundesliga, and in the DFB-Pokal the Black-and-Yellows recorded a routine 5-0 win away to fifth-tier side HEBC. After last Saturday’s spectacular comeback at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, the Black-and-Yellows now feel ready for their first Champions League night of the season, for which a limited number of tickets are still available in the online ticket shop.

Villarreal CF, meanwhile, are still searching for the form they showed last season, when the club from eastern Spain finished an impressive third in La Liga behind FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, once again qualifying for the Champions League ahead of Atletico Madrid and Real Betis. Last Saturday, the “Yellow Submarine” suffered a 3-2 home defeat to promoted side Deportivo A Coruña.

Squad

In the 3-2 away win in Sinsheim, centre-back Filippo Mane picked up an injury in the first half and had to be substituted after just 32 minutes. Head coach Niko Kovac said of his condition: “We assume nothing more will happen before the international break. He will certainly only return after that.”

Alongside the young Italian, the injured Giannis Konstantelias, Emre Can and Nico Schlotterbeck remain unavailable, with Schlotterbeck also still suspended after his red card. In addition, Ramy Bensebaini is still serving his yellow-red suspension from last season and will also not be in the squad.

Daniel Svensson and Konstantinos Karetsas did not take part in Monday’s final training session (photo gallery) with the team, but according to Kovac they are “perfectly healthy” and were absent only for workload management reasons. (Squad update)

Opposition

After four matchdays, Villarreal CF are still without a win in the Spanish league. The 2-2 draws against Racing Santander and Atletico Madrid were followed by 1-0 and 3-2 defeats to Alavés and A Coruña respectively, dropping last season’s third-placed side down to 16th. Only three teams in Spain’s top flight have conceded more goals than Villarreal so far.

Even so, BVB coach Kovac has enormous respect for their opening Champions League opponents: “They finished third last year and are playing in the Champions League for the second year in a row. Normally, the top three places in Spain are spoken for. If you break into that phalanx (alongside FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, editor’s note), that says a lot!” said the 54-year-old about his side’s first Champions League opponents this season.

He went on to describe Villarreal CF as a “technically strong team” and added: “They have a new coach now, but they still play the Spanish style with a lot of possession. They are technically very clean and very precise in what they do. When they have the ball, this team makes very few mistakes. We have to make sure we reduce their time in possession. When we have the ball, they can’t impose their game and have to defend more, which will hopefully suit us better. It will be a very difficult match.”

Villarreal CF are determined to improve on last year’s Champions League campaign and are targeting a place in the play-offs. In 2025/26, the “Yellow Submarine” suffered six other defeats in Europe in addition to the 4-0 loss at Borussia Dortmund and were eliminated in 35th place, second from bottom in the league phase.

Good memories

In BVB’s first meeting with Villarreal, the Black-and-Yellows celebrated what was ultimately a comfortable 4-0 win on 25 November 2025, with the Spaniards seriously undermining themselves in the 50th minute when Juan Foyth was sent off. At that point, the score had been only 1-0 from the visitors’ perspective. Goals from Serhou Guirassy, Karim Adeyemi and Daniel Svensson then sealed the emphatic home victory.

Beyond that, Villarreal CF’s record against German teams in European competition makes for pretty solid reading. Before last year’s 4-0 defeat in Dortmund, the club from the province of Castellón had faced Bundesliga teams 15 times in competitive matches, recording five wins, five draws and five defeats.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.