Unai Emery's Masterplan Helps Villarreal End Bayern Munich's 30-Game Scoring Streak In UCL

Unai Emery was championed as a "tactical mastermind" by Arnaut Danjuma after the forward's 15th goal of the season helped Villarreal beat Bayern Munich 1-0.
Unai Emery's Masterplan Helps Villarreal End Bayern Munich's 30-Game Scoring Streak In UCL
Unai Emery's Masterplan Helps Villarreal End Bayern Munich's 30-Game Scoring Streak In UCL /

Unai Emery was championed as a "tactical mastermind" by Arnaut Danjuma after the forward's 15th goal of the season helped Villarreal beat Bayern Munich 1-0.

That result in Spain saw Villarreal end Bayern's run of scoring in 30 consecutive Champions League games.

Bayern's run had gone unbroken for more than three years, stretching back to February 2019 when they were held to a 0-0 draw at Liverpool.

Bayern will still go into next week's second leg as favorites to reach the semi-finals.

But Danjuma believes that anything is possible with a manager like former Arsenal boss Emery.

Danjuma had told a BT Sport reporter before the game that Emery was going to come up with a plan to stop Bayern.

After the match, that journalist quizzed Danjuma on exactly what Emery had instructed his players to do.

Danjuma replied with a smile and said: "I'm not sure if I should lay it wide open at the moment because we have still got a second leg to play.

"But I can assure you that Unai is a tactical mastermind.

"His strategy always seems to work for us. We are confident in our manager and our manager is confident in us. It goes hand in hand."

Danjuma scored on Wednesday in the eighth minute.

The goal came after Giovani Lo Celso got to the right byline and pulled the ball back to Daniel Parejo, whose off-target shot was redirected into the net by Danjuma.

Bayern dominated possession but Danjuma had a golden chance to make it 2-0.

He added: "It was only 1-0 and obviously I'm a little but frustrated with the chance that I had. The feeling is a bit dubious.

"I'm grateful that I scored and helped the team get a lead early. I think that is very important, especially at home and especially against Bayern.

"We will make sure that we are focused and prepared for the second leg."

Villarreal manager Unai Emery pictured giving instructions to his players during his side's 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in April 2022
Villarreal manager Unai Emery pictured giving instructions to his players during his side's 1-0 win over Bayern Munich :: IMAGO/Eibner/Pressefoto

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Robert Summerscales
ROBERT SUMMERSCALES

Robert Summerscales launched FanNation Futbol in February 2022. Rob is a British journalist who previously spent two years on the sports desk at the Daily Mail in London, having earlier served as editor of CaughtOffside.com. He has been to the last two FIFA Men's World Cups, in Russia and Qatar, and is looking forward to completing his hat-trick in North America in 2026.