Villarreal achieved its first victory in the Champions League after coming back 3-1 against Napoli on the second day of the group stage. The match, played at La Cerámica at 21:00 CEST, ended with the elimination of the bad European streak of the Spanish club, which had suffered 12 games without a win before this clash. With the victory, Íñigo Pérez's team consolidates its leadership position in its group, while Napoli is left with two defeats in two days.
The match opened with a goal from Mikautadze in the 12th minute, after a mistake by Politano that left the Neapolitan defense vulnerable. At 23 minutes, Uruguayan striker Santiago Mouriño reduced the difference with a long-distance shot that slipped into the bottom corner of the goal. Napoli responded with a goal from Amir Rrahmani in the 35th minute, but Villarreal took the lead again with a second goal from Mouriño in the 38th minute, after a cross from De Bruyne that was not controlled by the Italian goalkeeper. The lead was maintained until the end, with a second goal from Mikautadze in the 86th minute sealing the comeback.
In terms of possession, Villarreal controlled 53% of the ball compared to Napoli's 47%, and had 17 shots on goal compared to 11 for the Partenopean team. The referee, Daniel Siebert, showed two yellow cards to Villarreal and one to Napoli, without any red card being recorded. The performance of the key players was highlighted by Mouriño himself, who commented that the team had known how to “recover and finish the game” after Napoli's goal, which gave him great motivation.
The result also has implications for the group stage table. Villarreal, with 3 points, remains in first position along with the teams competing for promotion to the knockout phase. Napoli, with 0 points, is in last position in the group, which reduces its chances of advancing. Villarreal's next match will be against Bayern Munich, while Napoli will face Manchester City in their next round of the Champions League.
With this victory, Villarreal has broken its winless streak in the continental competition and reinforces its position as one of the most competitive teams in the group stage. Napoli, for its part, will have to adjust its strategy before the next match to avoid falling into the relegation zone of the group.