Villarreal take on Chelsea in the UEFA Super Cup on Wednesday and Unai Emery’s side go into this encounter as the clear underdogs.
Villarreal are already set to play one of the best teams in European football and to make matters worse, their manager will be without some really important first-team players.
Juan Foyth picked up a late injury during Monday’s training session so he will be absent on Wednesday. Unai Emery will also be without midfielders Dani Parejo and Francis Coquelin, both of whom are out with injuries.
Winger Samu Chukwueze is still recovering from his muscle injury and he too will not be a part of the match-day squad against Chelsea.
Pau Torres set to feature against Chelsea:
The one saving grace for the Villarreal boss is that defender Pau Torres has decided to postpone his holidays so he can play against Chelsea on Wednesday.
The defender was involved in the Olympics final just a few days ago and since he’s returned to training, he will be named in the starting line-up.
The club updated on Twitter: “Pau Torres once more underlines his commitment to the Yellows by returning to training after Tokyo 2020.
“The defender postpones his holidays ahead of the Super Cup.”
He is 🔙 !
💛@pauttorres once more underlines his commitment to the Yellows by returning to training after #Tokyo2020.
💛 The defender postpones his holidays ahead of the #SuperCup 🏆.
— Villarreal CF English (@VillarrealCFen) August 9, 2021
Chelsea also have a handful of players who were involved in international duty during the summer and have returned late to pre-season training.
Most of them are not likely to feature in the starting XI vs Villarreal but the Blues still have enough quality to see this one through without any major issues.