Villarreal achieved its first victory in the Champions League by beating Napoli 3‑1 at the Cerámica, breaking a streak of 12 games without winning in the European competition. The opening goal came in the 73rd minute, when forward Georgi Mikautadze took advantage of a mistake by the Napoli goalkeeper to score. Íñigo Pérez's team responded with a great goal from Santiago Mouriño in the 77th minute, closing the gap and turning the score around. A third goal, from Oluwaseyi, was sealed in the 86th minute, consolidating the victory and leaving Napoli with a defeat in both rounds of the group stage.
The match was characterized by Villarreal's dominance of possession, which reached 53% compared to Napoli's 47%, and by a high number of total shots (17 compared to 11). Villarreal's goals were distributed among their main attackers: Mikautadze, Mouriño and Oluwaseyi, while Napoli's only goal came from the hand of Amir Rrahmani. The referee, Daniel Siebert, showed two yellow cards to the Italian team and kept the game under control, although there were moments of tension when Napoli tried to equalize the score.
After the victory, Villarreal's captain, Santiago Mouriño, expressed that the team had been able to recover after Napoli's initial goal, highlighting the importance of the details and the motivation that drove them to come back. For his part, Napoli coach Allegri regretted the defeat and pointed out that his team had shown an offensive style with a defense in four, but that the lack of precision in finishing was decisive.
With the victory, Villarreal improves its position in the group stage table, while Napoli faces pressure to get at least one point in the next matches to avoid early elimination. Villarreal's next match will be against the UEFA Champions League team competing in the same phase, while Napoli will look to bounce back in their next continental match.