Samuel Chukwueze will play in the Europa League with Villarreal next season despite their 2-1 loss to Real Madrid on Thursday night at the Alfredo Di Stephano.

Chukwueze was handed a starting jersey and was drafted to play forward behind Gerard Moreno.

However, he played for 46 minutes before he was substituted for Javier Ontiverous who eventually scored Villarreal solidarity goal as the game ended 2-1.

Despite the result the Yellow Submarines still booked a Europa League ticket a feat the club manager Javi Calleja was proud about.

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Speaking after the game manager Calleja dedicated their Europa League qualification to the fans . 

He said, “We’re dedicating this qualification to our fans. 

“Villarreal are where they deserve to be. We have to be ambitious and be even better next season,” he said.

“I’m very happy that we’ve qualified for the Europa League. 

“It is a great achievement and is thanks to our hard work. 

“We’ve believed in ourselves and the players have always had faith. 

“We fought for it and we got our objective.”

Calleja praised his players and expressed delight to coach the team.

 “I’m proud to have achieved the aim we set ourselves. 

“It was very hard and I really value our work. I’m proud to coach this team. 

“Now we want to finish fifth and end the season with a good taste in our mouth. We’ll fight for everything in the last match. 

“We want to finish as high up as possible.”

He also expressed frustration for his side inability to at least share the spoils with Madrid despite their efforts.

“It was a very competitive match. In the first half, we didn’t manage to worry them, but in the second half we deserved a draw. 

“I’m very happy with the team’s work. It’s a shame we didn’t get a point.

” At no point we gave up. 

“This team has personality. Qualifying for the Europa League is a result of all our work this season.”