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Intertoto Cup 2002
Villarreal made its debut in Europe in the 2002 Intertoto Cup. Hafnarjordur from Iceland had the honour of being the Submarine’s first European rival visiting El Madrigal in the second round of the competition going down 2-0. The result was enough to put the Yellows through to the next round following a 2-2 draw in the return leg. The third round saw Villarreal drawn against the historic Italian club of Torino. In an extremely close encounter, Torino earned a 2-0 advantage after the first leg only for the Submarine to win by the same margin in the return leg. The match went to penalties with the Yellows winning through 4-3.
The semi-final pitted Villarreal against French side, Troyes with the Yellows coming away with a 3-0 aggregate win. Everything pointed to the Submarine’s participation in the UEFA Cup via the Intertoto title until Malaga upset the plan. The Andalusian side took the advantage from the Madrigal following a 0-1 win and the return leg finished 1-1 leaving the Submarine close, but not close enough, to victory. It would not be long before the club would enjoy the sweet taste of success.
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