Villarreal started the season off in excellent form but that was brought to an abrupt halt by Real Betis on Sunday night, on a torrid night for the Yellow Submarine.
Unai Emery’s side conceded their first goal of the season in La Liga and passed up a number of chances to score themselves, slipping to a first defeat of the season.
What was worse, star striker Gerard Moreno went down with a hamstring issue during the match and had to be withdrawn. Moreno missed significant chunks of last season with hamstring problems and it will be a concern for Emery that it is the same issue.
Villarreal released a statement confirming the injury, as well as a quadriceps injury to midfielder Manu Trigueros. Neither were given a recovery period but well-informed journalist Javi Mata Gil reported shortly after that it would take them around three weeks to come back.
The result is that both will miss Villarreal’s crunch tie against Sevilla this weekend and will be doubts for Cadiz when the international break ends at the start of October.
Although it could almost be considered good timing for Villarreal in that he won’t miss many games, it is not good news for Moreno. He will miss Spain’s final fixtures before the World Cup and perhaps a chance to win a place in the squad.
More must-reads: