Our Villarreal fan reporter Louis Scattergood lives hundreds of miles from his beloved club, but his heart is at the Estadio de la Cerámica as Juve come calling

If you think residing in another country to that of your favourite football club is difficult, then your assumption would be correct. I’m Louis, a Villarreal supporter from England, and I fell in love with the Yellow Submarine about five years prior to the current campaign, which sees Villarreal back competing in the Champions League knockout stage.

I got the chance to visit the towns of Valencia and Vila-real with the football teams of each individual age group at my secondary school. We participated in specialist training sessions at Villarreal’s training ground before wandering around the Estadio de la Cerámica on a tour that left my jaw dropped. To put it candidly, I was in complete awe. The achievements of a club from a town of only 50,000 inhabitants and such a rich connection to their community just resonated with me on a level I’d never experienced before. At that moment, I realised this was the club for me.

Living in the Midlands of England, I have to support my club from afar while I study, but once I have finished, I will cross the water as soon as possible. My fondest memory of supporting Villarreal of course lies in the historic year of 2021, when Villarreal were able to bring the Europa League trophy home to Castellón after toppling English giants Manchester United in Poland.

I can remember having my head buried in my Villarreal jersey as I listened to the commentary of David de Gea’s penalty being pushed away by Gerónimo Rulli before I leaped up into the air in tears. It was one of the most magical nights of my life, along with one of the most magical nights in the history of Vila-real, and we haven’t even got to the day of the open-top bus ride yet.

The picture below encapsulates everything that it means to be a Villarreal fan: love, passion, belief and, most importantly, community. We are a club of the people and a club for the people, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. People struggle to understand how much it means to every single one of us who bleeds yellow on matchdays, but as we continue to improve and grow, they should get used to us while they’re at it.

Tonight, of course, will be a huge test. There’s a buzz of excitement with European giants Juventus in town. There’s an aura of confidence too; Juventus have not been in great form and are beset with injuries to the likes of Enrico Chiesa, Paolo Dybala, Federico Bernadeschi, Daniele Rugani and Giorgio Chiellini. Villarreal won’t be taking them likely, but even without the injured Gerard Moreno, we’ll look to exploit the fact that Juventus can only field one fit centre-back. And coming into the game on the back of a 4-1 win away at Granada, confidence is high.

The Yellow Submarine have scored 16 goals in seven Liga games since the turn of the year and recently drew with Spain’s two other remaining Champions Spanish representatives, Atlético de Madrid and Real Madrid, in games we really should have won. For those of you who haven’t seen much of Villarreal this season, watch out for Samuel Chukwueze, the direct and skilful Nigerian down the right, Juan Foyth, our dynamic and tough Argentinian right-back, and the 18-year-old academy graduate winger, Yeremi Pino. This could be exciting.