Both clubs reached the 20:00 BST kick-off at the Estadio de la Cerámica without a point after defeats on matchday 1. Villarreal had lost 3-2 away to Borussia Dortmund; Napoli had lost 1-0 at home to Arsenal. Luiz Júnior started in goal for Villarreal, and Actualidad Castellón reported that Iñigo Pérez made six changes from Villarreal's league game the previous Saturday, pairing Gerard Moreno with Mikautadze up front.
How Villarreal turned the game around
Villarreal lined up 4-4-2 and Napoli, managed by Massimiliano Allegri, in a 3-4-2-1 with Kevin De Bruyne and Giovane behind Rasmus Højlund. Napoli scored first from a set piece and Villarreal answered with two goals in quick succession:
- 8' Villarreal 0-1 Napoli: Amir Rrahmani, a right-footed shot from very close range after a corner.
- 23' Villarreal 1-1 Napoli: Georges Mikautadze, a left-footed finish from a difficult angle on the left.
- 26' Villarreal 2-1 Napoli: Santiago Mouriño, a right-footed shot from outside the box into the bottom left corner, set up by Gerard Moreno.
- 86' Villarreal 3-1 Napoli: Tani Oluwaseyi, a left-footed shot from the center of the box, set up by Ayoze Pérez.
Napoli were close to a second goal before the equalizer: Sky Sport Italia reported that Højlund headed a Matteo Politano cross against the junction of post and crossbar. The equalizer then came from a Napoli mistake. Politano tried to play the ball back to goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic, the pass was too slow and Mikautadze intercepted it before scoring, Sky Sport Italia said. Three minutes later Mouriño beat Milinkovic-Savic from distance for the lead Villarreal kept until the end.
The second-half substitutions
Allegri changed the game around the hour. Noa Lang replaced Giovane and Leonardo Spinazzola replaced Scott McTominay in the 60th minute, and David Neres came on for Politano in the 61st. Stanislav Lobotka and Lorenzo Lucca followed in the 72nd, for Billy Gilmour and Rafa Marín. Napoli pushed for an equalizer but Villarreal gave little away, according to Sky Sport Italia.
Pérez took off both of his starting forwards in the 63rd minute, Oluwaseyi replacing Moreno and Alex Freeman replacing Mikautadze, and brought on Juan Foyth for Alberto Moleiro in the 68th. Ayoze Pérez came on for Santi Comesaña in the 83rd minute and Sergi Cardona for Pape Gueye in the 84th. The late goal came from two of those substitutes: Ayoze Pérez supplied the pass three minutes after coming on, and Oluwaseyi scored 23 minutes after his introduction.
The referee showed five yellow cards and no red, and gave no penalty. Mikautadze was booked in the 33rd minute and Nathan Saliba in the 67th for Villarreal; Giovane (55th), De Bruyne (62nd) and Giovanni Di Lorenzo (85th) were booked for Napoli.
It is going to be a very tricky game – it's always tough playing in this stadium.
Massimiliano Allegri, Napoli manager, before the match, via VAVEL
Villarreal vs Napoli: the numbers
| Stat | Villarreal | Napoli |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 52% | 48% |
| Shots | 17 | 11 |
| Shots on target | 4 | 3 |
| Blocked shots | 6 | 2 |
| Corners | 4 | 4 |
| Fouls | 8 | 15 |
| Yellow cards | 2 | 3 |
| Red cards | 0 | 0 |
| Offsides | 3 | 3 |
| Goalkeeper saves | 2 | 1 |
| Passes (completed) | 492 (417) | 443 (368) |
Villarreal were efficient rather than dominant. They had 17 shots to Napoli's 11 but only four on target to three, and three of their four went in. Possession was close to even at 52% to 48%, and Villarreal completed 85% of their passes to Napoli's 83%. Napoli committed 15 fouls to Villarreal's 8 and sent in 18 crosses to Villarreal's 6. Each side had four corners.
Villarreal's first points, Napoli's second defeat
Villarreal now have three points from two games, one win and one defeat, with five goals scored and four conceded. Napoli have no points from two games, two defeats, one goal scored and four conceded. The table after matchday 2 had Villarreal 14th of 36, ahead of Atlético Madrid on goals scored, five to three, after both finished on three points and a plus-one goal difference; Napoli were 32nd, a place below Slavia Prague on goals scored, one to two. Our matchday 2 preview lists all 18 fixtures of the round, this one included.
Villarreal's league position is on the LaLiga table and Napoli's on the Serie A table, where the Serie A simulator can also play out the rest of Napoli's league season.
Next European games for Villarreal and Napoli
- Villarreal: away at Liverpool, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
- Napoli: at home to Bodø/Glimt, Tuesday 20 October 2026, 20:00 BST.
Both of those opponents played their matchday 2 games on Wednesday: Liverpool won 6-3 at LASK Linz, and Bodø/Glimt beat Borussia Dortmund, the side that beat Villarreal on matchday 1, 1-0 at home.
Notes on sources: the goals, assists, cards, substitutions, lineups and stats are taken from ESPN's match data, while the records and the league-phase positions are our count of ESPN full-time results at three points for a win. The reporting comes from Sky Sport Italia (in Italian, summarized in English here) and Actualidad Castellón (in Spanish), and the pre-match quote is from VAVEL; post-match quotes were not yet available at publication.