Espanyol take the points at La Cerámica
Villarreal lost 1-0 at home to Espanyol on 30 October. Cabrera’s goal in the 60th minute decided the match, according to [1]. The visitors were under interim coach Sergio García, who was making his debut after a coaching change earlier that week. The result ended a run of poor results for Espanyol, so Villarreal lost to a side in need of a lift.
The match was goalless for an hour. Villarreal then fell behind and the score stayed 1-0 until the end. The verified material has no injury, selection or squad news for Villarreal, so there is nothing to suggest the defeat came from a change in personnel. What the record does show is a home side that could not turn a level game its way once the first goal arrived. Another [2] report on the game frames it as a warning sign rather than a one-off, and the numbers behind that framing are the real story.
A home record that is falling short
The defeat leaves Villarreal with only four points from their first five home league matches: one win, one draw and three defeats. Marca describes it as one of their weakest home starts. For a team playing at La Cerámica, that is a poor return, and it contrasts with how they have fared elsewhere.
The site’s records show a mixed recent run across competitions. Villarreal beat Napoli 3-1 at home in the Champions League on 13 October, then drew 0-0 with Elche at home in La Liga four days later. They lost 4-3 away to Liverpool in the Champions League on 20 October and won 2-1 at Valencia on 24 October. The Espanyol defeat followed six days after that.
The pattern is uneven rather than collapsing. Villarreal have scored in most of those games, and the Liverpool and Valencia results came on the road. The league home games are where points have gone missing: a goalless draw against Elche and a 1-0 defeat to Espanyol are both results that fit a side struggling to turn control into goals.
Navarro’s apology and the mood around the club
After the match, defender Pau Navarro acknowledged that the team has many things to correct and improve, [3] reported. He then had to apologise for remarks he made after the game, in which he said the stadium was empty around the 75th minute.
Navarro said he did not intend to make excuses. He called for fans and team to unite and said he would like to see the stadium full all the time. The episode shows a squad aware that atmosphere has become part of the conversation, and a player trying to repair a misstep quickly.
The comments matter because they land in the middle of a poor home run. A team short of points at home needs its crowd, and a public exchange about empty seats will not help. How Navarro’s apology is received may be tested at the next home game, which falls just days away.
What it means
Villarreal sit 8th in La Liga with 12 points from 11 played (W3 D3 L5), with 15 goals scored and 15 conceded. A goal difference of zero fits a mid-table side: neither dominant nor collapsing, but losing too many close games. The last five results across all competitions, newest first, read L, W, L, D, W, which is two wins, one draw and two defeats.
The next fixture asks a different question. Villarreal host Paris SG in the Champions League on 3 November, again at La Cerámica. After a home league record of four points from five games, the test is whether they can find their best form at home against much stronger opposition, and whether the crowd Navarro called for turns up. The site’s forecast for the match locks 24 hours before kick-off, so it is not yet available. The verified material has nothing on Villarreal’s squad availability for the game, so any assessment of selection would be guesswork.
The wins over Napoli and Valencia show the team can score and take points when it matters. The Espanyol defeat shows how quickly home games can slip away. Tuesday’s match offers a chance to start changing that.
