Villarreal welcomed Deportivo La Coruna to El Madrigal for their last home game of the season, but could not give their fans a rightful send off in a 2-0 defeat.
Chasing the single point that would confirm their league safety, goals from Faycal Fajr and Lucas Perez would be enough for Depor to secure all three over an under strength Yellow Submarine.
The home side started the stronger of the two with the bulk of possession, but with a goal looking unlikely at either end. The ball was bogged down in midfield and it appeared that a breakthrough would need to come from nothing.
Both teams had a chance to conjure a goal out of the sky, with Deportivo coming closest with Luis Alberto slamming Federico Cartabia’s cross off the post, in what could have been one of the finishes of the season.
Villarreal had their own opportunity at the spectacular though as Leo Baptistao looked to place a volley into the top corner, but could only put the ball wide.
It was indeed a bit of magic out of nowhere that would separate the two teams, as Fajr would curl in a blistering strike from outside of the area to take the visitors into halftime leading by a goal.
It took less than 15 minutes after the restart for Depor to take a 2-0 lead. A long clearance from the back released club top scorer Perez into yards of space and the hitman would not make any mistake, guiding the ball past Mariano Barbosa.
Baptistao would have the home side’s best chance yet again in the latter stages with his header ricocheting off the post, but the home side could not break down the opposition’s stubborn defence, as Victor Sanchez’ men took home the three points that puts their safety in La Liga beyond doubt.
POPULAR ARTICLES
In Pictures: Leicester City crowned EPL champions [GALLERY]
Serie A – Tactical Analysis – Inter Milan 2 Empoli 1
Formations
Marcelino made eight changes from Villarreal’s midweek Europa League defeat to Liverpool. Mariano Barbosa would see his first minutes in the league, replacing Alphonse Areola in goal, while despite his red card against Liverpool Victor Ruiz kept his spot in central-defence. Baptistao and Adrian Lopez led the line for the Valencian’s.
Villarreal starting XI (4-4-2): Barbosa; Rukavina, Ruiz, Bonera, Mario; Castillejo, Trigueros, Bruno, Samuel; Adrian, Baptistao
Deportivo came to Villarreal to secure their place in the league and did so having made only one change. Following his sending-off against Granada, Celso Borges was replaced in the lineup by Alex Bergantinos. Sanchez sent out his side in a more defensive formation, with Lucas Perez leading the line alone.
Deportivo starting XI (4-1-4-1): Manu; Juanfran, Sidnei, Arribas, Laure; Bergantinos; Luis Alberto, Mosquera, Fajr, Cartabia; Perez
High Defensive Line Almost Works
Villarreal played with quite an astoundingly high defensive line. It was not surprising to see both Ruiz and Daniele Bonera well over halfway and encroaching on their own midfield.
Marcelino had sent his charges out to restrict the ball, escaping Deportivo’s half and also to keep possession away from the dangerous striker Perez.
The two centre-backs did mostly a good job, except for one costly error.
For the away side’s second goal the high line, and lack of pace of the Italian, were really caught out. By mistake Juanfran came up with the assist after a deep defensive clearance and when Perez raced onto it in his own half, there was only one outcome.
This game was a throw away for Villarreal so it may have been time to test out something new and on this evidence, Marcelino may stick with the high line, but not Bonera.
Deportivo Out-Villarreal the Yellow Submarine
Concede possession, defend deep and in numbers, hit on the counter-attack.
That has mostly been Villarreal’s mantra throughout the season, but here Deportivo took it to a new level.
Sanchez’ men defended so deep they were almost on top of their goalkeeper, with lines encroaching on lines. The tireless work of Bergantinos cannot be underrated at this point, as the Spaniard ran for days.
Villarreal had no answers for how to break down a stubborn away side except for a few speculative efforts. Despite having the bulk of the possession (65%), Marcelino’s squad lacked penetration up front and could not trouble Manu all that much.
Where the sides differ was in their attacks. While Villarreal’s forward movement this season has been a thing a beauty, with three or four players striding out of their own half with pace, Depor’s counter-attacks were based around one player, usually Perez, sometimes Alberto, or Fajr and Cartabia.
This time the team did not break as one, but one broke in numbers against the opposition. It may not have been the prettiest of setups, but it was successful and that is all Sanchez would have been looking for.
Time wasting tactics
Whether or not managers send their teams out to waste time on the clock has never really been known. We know it happens, and on this occasion, it was a big part of the Deportivo game plan.
From early in the second-half the time wasting began, with long winded goal kicks, no one picking up the ball for a throw-in or a corner and players pedantically questioning the referee as to the place of the free-kick.
The visitors used all the tricks in the book and they worked superbly. They got under the home side’s skin, which ultimately did not help their whimpering performance.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, both sides can be happy. Following the three points gained in this match Deportivo have maintained their position in La Liga and will begin to plan for 2016-17.
Villarreal had already achieved their goals, so this match was of little significance to them.
Next week are big games for the teams opposing these two and it will be interesting to note the mindset heading into the final round of fixtures.
Villarreal travel to a Sporting Gijon side looking to avoid relegation, while Deportivo host a Real Madrid team chasing the title.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us onFacebook
