Villarreal 5-1 Atletico Madrid
Villarreal have brought down the curtain on the 2025-26 La Liga season in spectacular fashion after seeing off Atletico Madrid convincingly in the final match of Marcelino Garcia Toral’s second spell in charge at La Ceramica.
Atleti arguably had the brighter opening half hour, but bang on 30 minutes, they fell behind when Dani Parejo scored from the penalty spot on his final Villarreal appearance after Nicolas Pepe was brought down by Juan Musso. And only four minutes later, the hosts would double their lead when Ayoze Perez slotted home from close range for only his second goal in his last 18 appearances.
And on 40 minutes, Villarreal would make it 3-0 when a counter-attack ended with Pepe playing in Georges Mikautadze to score the 15th goal (13 in La Liga) of his debut season at the Yellow Submarine.
Incredibly, there were still two more goals to come in the first half. Atleti got themselves on the board when headed home from an Antoine Griezmann corner, but Villarreal immediately restored their three-goal lead when Pape Gueye lashed home from the edge of the penalty area.
Ayoze followed up his second goal in 18 with a third to make it 5-1 on 54 minutes, thus ending any possible hopes of an Atleti comeback. From there, the home side were able to see out the match comfortably, and they even held a nice send-off for Parejo after he was taken off for the final time as a Villarreal player.
Big summers ahead for Villarreal and Atleti
Both Villarreal and Atleti will now turn their attention towards the summer. The former must first seal the appointment of Marcelino’s successor, which is currently set to be Rayo Vallecano head coach Inigo Perez. As for Los Colchoneros, they are planning for another big-spending transfer window, although it could be defined by the possible exit of star striker Julian Alvarez.
