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About Villarreal FC
Villarreal (also known as Villarreal CF, Villarreal Club de Futbol or El Submarino Amarillo) is a professional Spanish football club founded in 1923 and based in Vila Real. Villarreal plays in the Spanish Primera División (La Liga) and its home matches are held at the 25,000-seat Madrigal stadium.
In the 1970/71 season, Villarreal played in the Segunda Division for the first time in its history. After playing in the Segunda Division in the following season, Villarreal was relegated to the Tercera Division and in the following seasons the team was playing in the Segunda Division and the Segunda Division B until being promoted in 1998 to the Primera Division for the first time in its history.
Villarreal's had a difficult first La Liga season and the team performance was not good enough to avoid being relegated to the Segunda Division for the following 1999/00 season. In the 2000/01 season, Villarreal finished at the third place and earn a promotion back to the La Liga where Villarreal remained up to the present day.
During the first seasons in La Liga, Villarreal finished at the bottom half before winning the Intertoto Cup in 2003 and hence qualify for the UEFA Cup tournament. In the 2003/04 season Villarreal reached the UEFA Cup semi finals but lost to Valencia. In that season, Villarreal won the Intertoto Cup for the second time and by that qualified for the next season's UEFA Cup tournament. In the 2004/05 season's UEFA Cup, Villarreal reached the quarter-finals. Villarreal finished that season in the third place of the La Liga table and by that earned the team's first direct qualification to a European tournament; the Champions League.
Thanks to Villarreal's consistent performances and success in the Champions League, the team enjoyed a considerable recognition in the 2005/06 season. In the qualifying round stage and in the group stage, Villarreal remained undefeated; topped their group, progressed to the knock-out stages and quarter-finals where Villarreal was defeated by Inter Milan. Villarreal continued their unbeaten record in the Champions League and beat Inter Milan in the second leg match thus qualified for the semi-final where Villarreal narrowly lost out to Arsenal.
Unlike the previous season, the beginning of the 2006/07 season was pretty bad for Villarreal but eventually the team qualified for the UEFA Cup. Villarreal also qualified for the 2008/09 UEFA Champions League and went ahead through the knock-out stage; on the last group-stage match, Villarreal lost to Celtic. Villareal reached the quarter-finals for the second time in two tries. In the 2009/10 season, Villarreal achieved a UEFA Europa League position. Villarreal FC News
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