Mendizorroza has long troubled Villarreal, three wins in 14 ahead of Friday trip | OneFootball

Villarreal head to Mendizorroza on Friday 28 August 2026 at 21.30 for LaLiga EA Sports matchday three, a venue where their last league win came in 2020 and they have only three victories from 14 visits.

El Periódico Mediterráneo points out that this is among their most awkward trips in the current top flight. Their league record in Vitoria reads three wins, three draws and eight defeats, equating to 12 points from 42, a 21.4% win rate and 0.86 points per game.

Even so, it is not their toughest away ground. The Santiago Bernabéu has brought only two league wins and an average below half a point per game, while returns at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán are marginally worse than in Vitoria.

The three victories in Vitoria have been scarce and spread out. In 2000/2001 it finished 1-0, Víctor Fernández scoring the first at Mendizorroza. In 2017/2018 it was 3-0 with Cédric Bakambu twice and Carlos Bacca, then 2-1 in 2019/2020 when Fer Niño struck in the last minute soon after coming on.

Since that 2020 success, Villarreal have gone five straight league trips to Vitoria without a win. The latest was on 13 March 2026, a 1-1 draw featuring a 40th-minute Rafa Marín own goal, an inspired Antonio Sivera, then a 97th-minute equaliser from Nicolas Pepe.

All eight defeats at Mendizorroza have come by a single goal, a sign of consistently tight contests. More than six years on from their last win there, Villarreal now try to break the pattern.

Source: El Periódico Mediterráneo

“Artificial intelligence was used to assist in creating this article based on reporting from the original source quoted.”