Villarreal came back to life in the Champions League by beating Napoli 3-1 at La Cerámica, breaking a streak of 12 games without a victory in European competition. The comeback, which was completed in the second half, put an end to the bad streak that Íñigo Pérez's team had been on since March 2024, when they won 3‑1 against Olympique de Marseille.
The match began with an early goal from Naples. Rrahmani scored in the 8th minute after a corner that was centered in the area, and the Kosovar striker finished with a header over Luiz Júnior, who had returned to the goal after the incident with Gulácsi. Villarreal was discouraged and found themselves ahead. Just two minutes later, Hojlund tried to equalize with a header that missed the crossbar, but Villarreal defender Badiashile prevented the tie by deflecting Mikautadze's shot.
Mikautadze's goal came in the 23rd minute, when the Georgian recovered from the Naples defense and scored with precision after a short passing play that fell short of the Serbian goal. Mikautadze's finish equalized the score at 1-1 and sparked Villarreal. Three minutes later, Gerard Moreno retreated into the box and passed to midfielder Mouriño, who fired a long-range shot past Milinkovic-Savic to put Villarreal ahead 2-1. Mouriño's goal was decisive and marked the beginning of the comeback.
In the second half, Villarreal controlled the pace of the game and reduced the pressure from Naples. Despite a play by Moleiro in the 56th minute that almost gave him the third goal, Badiashile intercepted the ball and Villarreal maintained possession. Gerard Moreno starred in a sequence of substitutions that left Naples with nine players momentarily. Villarreal, with the advantage, sought to consolidate its dominance, but Napoli managed to score a tying goal in the 86th minute thanks to Tani Oluwaseyi, who executed a collective play that culminated with a precise shot.
Referee Daniel Siebert showed a yellow card to Villarreal's Mikautadze and Saliba, and Napoli's Giovane, De Bruyne and Di Lorenzo. With 19,128 spectators in the stands, the match ended with the locals celebrating the victory that restored their confidence in the Champions League. The result also marks the end of Villarreal's poor European streak, which had not won since March 2024. With this victory, the team is better positioned in the group stage and moves forward with optimism towards the next matches.