The Yellow Submarine will be officially beginning their preseason tomorrow with a friendly against Catalan outfit L'Hospitalet de Llobregat at the Mini Estadi.
For those of you are not very familiar with L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, the club official name is Centre d’Esports l’Hospitalet, and was founded in 1957. Their nickname is the Riversiders.
L'Hospitalet are currently playing in the Segunda Division B III alongside Villarreal B. Last season L'Hospitalet finished in 15th place. They recently appointed 28 year old Ismael García as their new manager at the beginning of the month. L'Hospitalet resumed training on Monday just as Villarreal did.
Four days later, Villarreal will be traveling to Tarragona to face the local team.
Here's the full schedule of the friendlies for Villarreal:
Wednesday, July 20, Friendly: Gimnàstic de Tarragona-Villarreal CF at the Nou Estadi of the Catalan capital (20.30)
- Nastic is now a regular opponent for Villarreal given the proximity between the two cities. The granas became one of the sensations of Liga Adelante last season as they finish in fourth in their return to the silver category. Unfortunately, Osasuna halted the aspirations of Tarragona in semifinals of play-off for promotion (3-1 and 2-3). Although they have lost one of their references in attack, the former yellow Jose Naranjo, the Tarragona have been able to maneuver quickly and have already closed four additions to the 2016/17 season.
Saturday, July 23, Friendly: Real Sociedad-Villarreal CF in the football field of Asti in Zarautz (time to be confirmed)
- Ninth in the 2016/17 season, the locals have reinforced the team with Juanmi (Southampton) and Toño Ramirez (AEK Larnaca) and have managed to keep much of the squad of last year. Coached by Eusebio Sacristan, they count with the likes Mexican Carlos Vela as the main reference in attack
Tuesday, July 26, Iberian Trophy: Villarreal CF Sporting Clube de Portugal in the New Nursery Badajoz (time to be confirmed)
- Portuguese Liga runners-up, Sporting Portugal is, along with Porto and Benfica, one the Portuguese football dominating trident in the Primeira liga, often referred as the Big Three. Sporting count in their ranks with four of the Portugal European champions (Rui Patrício, William Carvalho, Adrien Silva and Joao Mário), while its great reference in attack is the Algerian Islam Slimani (30 goals in 2015/16).
Saturday, August 6, Friendly: FC Porto-Villarreal CF at the Estadio do Dragao (time to be confirmed)
Another of the historical from the neighboring country in the Iberian Peninsula. The Dragons finished 3rd in the league, and they have a new manager, former coach of Valencia, Nuno Espirito Santo. They have one of the strongest squads and they count with the likes of French-Algerian Brahimi, the Mexican midfielder Hector Herrera, midfielder Danilo Pereira and Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas. In addition to them, Porto count with two former yellow players, center back Ivan Marcano, and striker Adrian Lopez.
Tuesday, August 9, Trofeo Teresa Herrera: RC Deportivo-Villarreal CF at the Riazor Stadium in La Coruna (time to be confirmed)
- The Galician side is one of the teams that has made the most additions in La Liga. They have added a handufl of players to their squad like Çolak, Tyton, Albentosa or Juanfran Among their most outstanding players include striker Lucas Perez, central dfendeer Sidnei, and French-Moroccan midfielder Fayçal.
Saturday, August 13, Trophy Villa de Leganés CD Leganés-Villarreal CF at the Estadio Municipal Butarque (20.30 )
- The Yellow Submarine will be also measuring forces against one of the newcomers to La Liga. The Madrid team will play in the top flight after winning one of the two automatic promotion places in 2015/16. As for their new addotions, they will be counting with the services of Angel Miguel Guerrero, from Sporting. Szymanowski, and Omar as their striking force, and David Timor in midfield are among their most prominent players.