‘I suffer a lot’: Villarreal owner Fernando Roig on not enjoying games and the prospect of Liverpool

The Guardian UK Sunday 18 October 2026, 07:00 UTC By Sid Lowe 1 min read

Key Points

It will be a tense time for club’s president despite the Champions League game at Anfield offering a symbol of how far they have comeThe first time Fernando Roig watched Villarreal play as their president, he sat in the stand at a tiny whitewashed ground that had concrete fever and was half empty. It was a Sunday night in the second division, they lost 3-0 to Badajoz, and he didn’t enjoy it much. But then, he doesn’t ever enjoy it much.

It will be a tense time for club’s president despite the Champions League game at Anfield offering a symbol of how far they have come

The first time Fernando Roig watched Villarreal play as their president, he sat in the stand at a tiny whitewashed ground that had concrete fever and was half empty. It was a Sunday night in the second division, they lost 3-0 to Badajoz, and he didn’t enjoy it much.

But then, he doesn’t ever enjoy it much. Even on Tuesday at Anfield, he will not: into his 30th year, the longest presidency in Europe, that is about the only thing that hasn’t changed. More than 1,000 games and still it happens. “I don’t get nervous. It’s worse: I get worried, very anxious,” he says. “I suffer a lot.

Villarreal (PERSON) Fernando Roig (PERSON) Liverpool (LOCATION) Champions League (ORG) Anfield (ORG) Badajoz (LOCATION) Europe (LOCATION)

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‘I suffer a lot’: Villarreal owner Fernando Roig on not enjoying games and the prospect of Liverpool

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