Villarreal midfielder Alex Baena bagged a red card after he celebrated his equaliser against Almeria with a tribute to the late Vice President of Villarreal, Jose Llaneza.
The Spanish-born left-winger got a second yellow card for revealing a shirt with scripted tributes to the late Vice President of the club.
Villarreal took on Almeria in a fiery La Liga clash marked with controversies and heated moments.
Both sides put up a pulsating and spirited display, with Villarreal galvanizing on the home advantage to have a slight dominance in the game.
The Europa League champions and Champions League quarterfinalist had 11 shots, with 5 on target.
Almeria equally pulled a strong performance, firing 15 shots, with 4 on target, but fell slightly behind with 48% of the possession against Villarreal’s 52%.
Despite playing second fiddle to the hosts in terms of ball possession, Almeria led in the first half, opening the scoring in the 31st minute courtesy of Melero’s strike.
In the second half, Baena found an equaliser in the 56th minute with an assist from Parejo.
The game nearly ended in a draw until Jackson’s 94th-minute stoppage-time goal secured victory for Villarreal.
Jackson’s last-minute winner sent the home fans wild, but another high point of the game was the sending off of Alex Baena after a shock red card for lifting his shirt to reveal a tribute to the late Vice President of Villarreal Jose Llaneza.
After scoring the equaliser in the 56th minute for the home side, Alex Baena celebrated his goal, exposing a shirt with a tribute which reads, “thanks for everything, Llaneza.”
The center referee Bengoetxea wasted no time issuing a second yellow card to the 21-year-old, leading to his sending-off in the game.
The decision was a bit controversial, reducing to 10 men with over 30 minutes left to play.
However, Villarreal continued to dominate the game despite playing one-man down, before successfully securing a last-minute winner.
Jose Manuel Llaneza reportedly passed away on October 20 after being hospitalized following a long battle with cancer.
Alex Baena
Alejandro Baena Rodriquez, born on 20th July 2001 in Roquetas de mar, Spain, is a 21-year-old Villareal left-winger and Spain international.
Alex Baena started his youth career at Roquetas in 2007 before joining Villareal in 2011, after four years with Roquetas.
He made his first senior appearance with Villareal C between 2018 and 2019 with only two appearances.
From 2019 to 2021, he joined Villarreal B, making 23 appearances. He made his first appearance for Villarreal’s main team in 2020, with 16 appearances, scoring three goals.
He was sent on a season-long loan to Girona in the 2021-22 football season.
Baena is yet to make an appearance for Spain’s senior national team, but he has risen through the ranks in Spain’s national youth teams.
In 2017, he made 3 appearances for Spain U16, 11 appearances for Spain U17, 10 appearances for U18, 7 for U19, 5 for U20, and 3 for U21.
He scored ten goals throughout his transition through youth levels, scoring in every stage of the competition except at the U19 level.
Alex Baena is yet to win any trophy with Villarreal.
