On May 24, 2026, Villarreal and Atlético de Madrid closed the 2025-26 LaLiga EA Sports season at La Cerámica in a match that decided third place in the table.
Marcelino, the Villarreal coach, made the occasion personal: "Es mi último partido aquí y es una mezcla de sensaciones. Entre las dos etapas son siete temporadas y eso deja marcado" — words he spoke after the club honoured him ahead of the final whistle.
The immediate stakes were clear: third place carried a reported financial difference of nearly seven million euros. The match also served as a string of farewells and milestones. Antoine Griezmann played what was described as his last function as an Atlético de Madrid player at La Cerámica, the forward having scored 212 goals in 500 matches for the club. Diego Pablo Simeone reached his 800th match in charge of Atlético. Atlético’s starting eleven included Musso, Llorente, Pubill, Lenglet, Hancko, Vargas, Koke, Giuliano, Álex Baena, Lookman and Griezmann; Villarreal opened with Arnau Tenas, Mouriño, Pau Navarro, Rafa Marín, Pedraza, Pépé, Gueye, Parejo, Moleiro, Ayoze and Mikautadze.
Clement Lenglet was the new inclusion in Atlético’s starting lineup, which meant Ruggeri was left out to make room. Hancko lined up at left back. Atlético appeared in their second kit intended for the next season. On the Villarreal side, Dani Parejo — a six-season veteran at the club — started in midfield; Marcelino’s two spells at the club were described as amounting to seven seasons in total.
Context after the immediate picture underlined why the final day mattered beyond farewells. Both teams had already qualified for the Champions League before kick-off, and they arrived at La Cerámica level on 69 points, Villarreal ahead on goals scored. Villarreal’s home form across the season had been strong on paper: 14 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses in 18 matches, though the club had entered the final day having lost its previous two matches and without a win in three.
That contrast created the tension of the evening. With Champions League football secured for both sides, third place was less about qualification than about income, reputation and send-offs. Atlético’s milestone manager and the club’s departing captain framed the match as a ceremonial crossroads; Villarreal’s coach left the pitch carrying both the club’s gratitude and the unresolved questions about the team he leaves behind.
Marcelino accepted that attention, and he used his brief remarks to thank the club’s hierarchy as well as to mark the moment. "Quiero dar las gracias al presidente de la Junta Directiva por este reconocimiento. Es muy de agradecer," he said — a public close to a relationship that, between two spells, totalled seven seasons at the club.
The final day at La Cerámica was therefore not simply a routine fixture. It was a financial decider, a farewell stage and a milestone marker all at once: nearly seven million euros split, 212 goals celebrated, 800 matches registered for a coach, and the closing chapter of a manager’s return to a club he described as having left its mark. Marcelino’s exit after those seven seasons is the clearest consequence of the night — an era-ending fact that will shape Villarreal’s next season more than any kit change or line-up tweak.
