At the title gates

The greatest campaign in the history of Villarreal FC saw the club finish as runners-up in the league behind the winners, Real Madrid.

The finest league campaign in the history of Villarreal FC saw the club achieve second place in La Liga 2007-2008 and with it automatic qualification into the Champions League. Consistency and clinical efficiency in front of goal yielded a grand total of 77 points, (24 wins, five draws and just nine defeats), a sum that in previous years would have been sufficient to take the title.

Manuel Pellegrini’s team also finished its campaign as La Liga’s best travellers with 12 victories away from home beating Real Madrid’s total of 10 victories and four draws.

Villarreal achieved a technically skilled and definitive style of play that saw the side unaffected by the necessary rotations brought on by the strain of having to compete in three competitions simultaneously. Important changes at the start of the campaign saw new players blend in to the Villarreal squad. Diego Lopez, Diego Godin, Joan Capdevila, Santi Cazorla - brought back from a loan spell at Recreativo - Rio Mavuba, Angel Lopez, Giuseppe Rossi and Sebastian Eguren all joined the squad to great effect, while the return from injury of Gonzalo Rodriguez and top goal scorer with 18 strikes, Nihat Kahveci were determining factors of the season.

A blend of youth and experience and a changing room full of quality and commitment were vital elements in what turned out to be an extraordinary campaign.