Péter Gulácsi will miss Villarreal's Champions League match against Napoli at the Estadio de La Cerámica after an armed robbery at his home in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Villarreal said the competent authorities were informed immediately and are carrying out the appropriate proceedings, and no member of the footballer's family sustained injuries.
Villarreal's immediate problem
The absence is a football issue as well as a personal one. Villarreal are already coming into Villarreal vs Napoli having won only 2 of their last 5 matches, and they sit 22nd in the Champions League standings after 1 match, with 0 points and a -1 goal difference.
Gulácsi is 36, so this is not a routine reshuffle around a young goalkeeper waiting for a chance. It is a late change for a side that now has to settle on a replacement in the middle of a difficult week.
Napoli's side of the tie
Napoli have not been flying either. They sit 27th in the Champions League standings after 1 match, with 0 points and a -1 goal difference, and their last five league results read 3 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.
The match still goes ahead at the Estadio de La Cerámica, but Villarreal will go into it without the goalkeeper they expected to have. If the club needed calm before kick-off, this was not the sort of news they wanted on the day of the game.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
