The Champions League is supposed to make a club sit up. Íñigo Pérez sounds like a man who has been waiting for exactly this moment. On Thursday in Vila-real, España, he made no effort to play down Villarreal’s next European step ahead of Alavés Vs Villarreal, saying he has “mucha ilusión” about taking part in the competition.
That matters because Villarreal are not arriving at this week’s league game in a mood of effortless comfort. They are still chasing their first victory after opening the season with two draws, first against Racing de Santander and then Atlético de Madrid. So while the draw for the Champions League composition was scheduled for the same day, the immediate task was still brutally simple: turn promising intent into three league points.
A coach already thinking big
Pérez did not hide the scale of the occasion. He said it is a tournament you grow up watching, and that being at Villarreal in this new project is motivating. That is the right attitude, and it sounds like a manager who understands that European nights do not reward hesitation. As he put it, the challenge should be approached in an enjoyable, organised way, with the ambition to go to the best grounds and try to win there.
There is also a very clear message in his choice of tone. Pérez knows Villarreal will be pitched against heavyweights once the draw is made. His point was not to complain about that. It was the opposite. In Spain, he argued, clubs are already used to facing the best, so why not do it in Europe as well?
That is the sort of line supporters want to hear. It suggests confidence rather than fear. It also fits the broader picture around Villarreal, who announced the signing of Nathan Saliba on the same Thursday, underlining that this is a club trying to add pieces while the bigger European picture comes into view.
The league still needs fixing first
Still, the danger of getting carried away is obvious. Nice European speeches do not erase the fact that Villarreal have not won a league game yet. Two draws are not a disaster, but they are not the start of a season that allows anyone to relax either. Before the glamour of the Champions League, there is the less glamorous requirement of beating Alavés.
That is where this becomes interesting. Pérez has already shown he can take a side to the runner-up spot in the last Liga Conferencia with Rayo Vallecano, so he is not speaking like a tourist when he talks about Europe. He knows the level rises quickly, he knows the margins tighten, and he knows the burden on a squad increases the moment the competition changes.
His comments on Saliba hint at the same reality. The coach said the adaptation should be straightforward, but he will need to see how the player settles. He also made clear that the position demands everything: it is about generating play, acting as the team’s motor and setting the team’s height. In other words, Villarreal are adding responsibility, not just names.
So the picture is fairly clear. Villarreal are excited about the Champions League, and Pérez is right to be excited. But the club cannot afford to treat that as the main story just yet. First comes Alavés, and first comes the need to turn decent early performances into an actual win. Only then does the European optimism feel properly earned.
