(Football news) In the meantime, the hosts are participating in the main draw following their triumphant maneuver to get past Mijas-Las Lagunas in the qualifying round.  Chiclana is excited to play elite competition in the opening round of the Copa del Rey, as they commemorate their 75th anniversary.

To get to Thursday’s historic match, they had to battle through a cagey draw against Mijas-Las Lagunas earlier in the month.

Chiclana overcame Mijas-Las Lagunas 1-0 thanks to an own goal that gave them the lead. Fran Sanchez’s penalty save proved to be important.

Not only have Chiclana been successful in the cup, but they have also had great success in the league, finishing in second place with 15 points from seven games.

They have an impressive record of six straight league clean sheets, and if they are to give Villarreal any trouble on Thursday, they will need to maintain that defensive tenacity.

With just four victories in 13 games across all competitions, Villarreal has fallen short of their own lofty expectations in the first few weeks of the new campaign. After Quique Setien was fired as Villarreal’s manager in early September, Pacheta took over as manager for nine of those games.

Upon his team’s victory over struggling Granada on Sunday, he would have been relieved to see his team snap a five-game league losing streak.

As Granada pulled two goals back before halftime, Villarreal held firm to secure their third league victory of the season, moving them up to 12th place with 12 points. The Yellow Submarine threatened to blow a commanding lead after a brace by Gerard Moreno and a goal by Alexander Sorloth had put their side in the lead.

Now that they have a chance to win the competition for the first time, Villarreal will focus on Thursday’s Copa del Rey match, which they hope will be the first of many title matches.
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