Real Madrid 0-1 Villarreal: 5 Talking Points

#4 Villarreal were set up perfectly

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Fran Escriba's sacking launched reserve team manager Javi Calleja into the limelight, and ever since he has taken over, Villarreal look a side reborn. Calleja began his managerial career with a run of 6 unbeaten games (4 wins, 2 draws) before a 3 game blip. Impressive away wins to Celta Vigo and Valencia followed, but the scalp of Real Madrid takes the crown.

This was history.

Villarreal win their first ever La Liga match at Real Madrid (18th match). Real lose back-to-back league home matches for the first time since May 2009 (6-2 against Barcelona, 3-1 versus Mallorca).

— Gracenote Live (@GracenoteLive) January 13, 2018

Villarreal were beautifully set up in the second half - while their first-half performance was all about absorbing pressure, Calleja switched things around in the second half, opting for a high press as he knew Madrid would grow increasingly nervous as the game remained goalless.

Denis Cheryshev was the perfect player to use as a counter-attacking threat and it worked in the 87th minute, as he set up Unal perfectly, only for Navas to save it, but he could do nothing to deny to effervescent Pablo Fornals from scoring the winner with a gorgeous chipped effort.

4 - Villarreal have earned four points thanks to the two Pablo Fornals' goals in La Liga: two in Vigo & two at Bernabéu. Decisive pic.twitter.com/D6TYcx49Xs

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) January 13, 2018

Keep this up, and the UEFA Champions League beckons.