Villarreal

Founded in 1923, Villarreal have spent most of their history in the lower divisions of Spanish football and did not make their La Liga debut until 1998. Their first La Liga match was at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on August 31, 1998, when Villarreal lost 4:1 to Real Madrid. The club position themselves as an example of a small, but successful club. Villarreal cannot compete on their scale with their regional rival Valencia but have gained some stability in the league over the past decade and reached the UEFA Champions League for the first time in 2005.