As Lyon were flying to the Castellon province, the Villarreal squad held a final training session Wednesday morning at the Estadio de la Ceramica, far from the meddling eyes of a visiting press corps that was still in transit between France and Spain.
Shortly after noon, Yellow Submarine Javier Calleja addressed the local media to announce his 18-man squad for tomorrow’s Europa League Round-of-32 return leg vs. Lyon. Four players are missing, most notably Portuguese defender Rubén Semedo.
Villarreal have been far from their best heading into Thursday’s decisive showdown, going winless in their last four matches. After two defeats in La Liga, against Betis and Alavés, the Yellow Submarine dropped a 3-1 result at Groupama Stadium in last week’s first leg versus OL before conceding a late 1-1 draw to Espanyol on Saturday - a result that pushed them out of the top five in the league.
.Villarreal's 18-man squad vs. OL;.
A late Bertrand Traoré goal sealed a 1-0 (4-1 aggregate) win for an OL side that took care of business at the Estadio de la Ceramica and will deservingly continue their European cup adventure.
Lyon's players and coach spoke to OLTV to discuss Thursday's Europa League win over Villarreal.