Real Madrid face Villarreal on Sunday in a match that brings good memories for the Yellow Submarine, as they played their first La Liga game ever at the Santiago Bernabeu.
It was on August 30th 1998 in a game unusually played on Monday due to Los Blancos having played the final of the European Supercup the previous Friday, losing 1-0 to Chelsea with a goal scored by Gustavo Poyet.
That day, Villarreal made his debut in the Spanish first division after having earned a historic promotion in the 1997/98 season, beating in Sociedad Deportiva Compostela in the playoffs.
Their first La Liga match couldn’t start better, since Gica Craioveanu scored for the visitors with only three minutes on the clock and gave the rookies the lead against the reigning European champions.
However, two goals from Raul Gonzalez, one from Pedja Mijatovic and one more from Savio turned Villarreal’s dream into a nightmare, earning a 4-1 victory for Los Merengues.
The current Real Madrid assistant manager Fernando Hierro took part in that game as a Los Blancos player. He featured from the start an played 85 minutes. Thus, he can be considered one of Villarreal’s first executioners in La Liga.
