Young Boys vs Villarreal

Villarreal will be looking to get their UEFA Champions League Group F campaign off the mark when they take on Young Boys at the Stadion Wankdorf.

Young Boys failed to build on their come-from-behind 2-1 home win over Manchester United in their Group F curtain-raiser, falling to a narrow 1-0 away loss to Atalanta last time out. Since winning their first-ever European meeting with Spanish opponents, the reigning Swiss champions have gone winless in their subsequent three such match-ups (D1, L2), including a 3-1 thumping to Valencia in November 2018. However, unbeaten in their last three home matches in the Champions League (W2, D1), the hosts could equal the club’s longest undefeated home run in Europe’s most prestigious club competition set between 1957 and 1959 (4 games). Given Young Boys’ impressive record of five wins and two draws from their seven competitive home fixtures this season, it’s hard to make a case for the home side not avoiding defeat here.

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo’s last-gasp winner handed Manchester United a massive 2-1 win over Villarreal, who take the field winless in both Group F outings (D1, L1). A 2-2 home draw with Atalanta in their Champions League opener is a part of Villarreal’s disastrous nine-match winless streak in the competition (D1, L8), a run that saw them concede 2+ goals on all nine occasions. Unai Emery’s men go into this showdown in the midst of a rough patch, having won just one of their last four outings in all competitions (D1, L2), three of which saw them score under 1.5 goals. Yet, it’s worth noting that the abovementioned defeat to Man United marked the Spaniards’ first European loss since April 2019, ending a run of 17 straight UEFA-sanctioned fixtures without losing.