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2025-26 Spanish La Liga
Matchday 7
Villarreal v Athletic Bilbao
Estadio de la Ceramica
Villarreal, Spain
Saturday, 27 September 2025
Kick-off is at 21h00
Villarreal will be looking to build on their strong start to the season when they welcome Athletic Bilbao to La Ceramica on Saturday, September 27 in the late kick-off.
The Yellow Submarine have won three of their opening five matches in
La Liga and trail Real Madrid and Barcelona by five and three points respectively in third place.
Marcelino's side suffered their first defeat on matchday 4 against Atletico Madrid, but they bounced back with the 2-1 victory over Osasuna on September 20.
The 2-0 loss at the Metropolitano was the first time Villarreal failed to get on the scoresheet, although they've still scored the joint-second-most goals (10) after Barca, who have 16.
The Lions got off to a flying start after recording three straight wins, however, they've enjoyed no success this month and haven't picked up a single point since the international break.
Ernesto Valverde's side failed to even score any goals as they suffered back-to-back defeats against Alaves (1-0) and Valencia (2-0) which has seen them drop to seventh in the standings.
Villarreal haven't won this fixture since 13 May 2023 when they routed Athletic 5-1, with last season's encounter at La Ceramica finishing goalless after the Basque outfit secured a 2-0 victory on home soil.
Marcelino singled out praise for goalkeeper Luiz Junior, who made a couple of crucial saves against Osasuna in the closing stages, although he was disappointed to see his team concede their first goal at home.
"With his interventions at the end, Luiz was very important and helped us secure three thoroughly deserved points," the Spaniard said.
"I am satisfied with the team's work and the victory, which is well deserved. The only area we weren't quite as strong was defensively. At home it is important not to concede. That penalty at the end of the first half was a pity."
Valverde isn't too concerned by recent results after seeing his team dominate the games against Alaves and Valencia even if they didn't score any goals.
"We have had better weeks, but we have to keep going. In previous years, there have also been times when we haven't been at our best, but I'm not worried," the Spaniard said.
"If you look at the matches we've lost without taking into account the scoring, you don't think we've lost them because we dominated most of them."
Head-to-Head (Last Five La Liga Meetings)
Matches - 5
Villarreal wins - 1
Athletic wins - 2
Draws - 2
La Liga Matchday 7 fixtures:
Friday, September 26
21h00: Girona v Espanyol
Saturday, September 27
14h00: Getafe v Levante
16h15: Atletico Madrid v Real Madrid
18h30: Real Mallorca v Alaves
21h00: Villarreal v Athletic Bilbao
Sunday, September 28
14h00: Rayo Vallecano v Sevilla
16h15: Elche v Celta Vigo
18h30: Barcelona v Real Sociedad
21h00: Real Betis v Osasuna
Monday, September 29
21h00: Valencia v Real Oviedo
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