Villarreal’s Ilias Akhomach Scores First Europa League Goal in Key Victory

On Thursday, Ilias Akhomach shone brightly with Villarreal on the pitch of the Rennes Stadium during the sixth and final round of the Europa League. Author of the second goal of the match - his first goal in C3, he contributed to the victory of the Groguets (the yellows in Valencian). The latter snatched the leadership of group F from the Red and Blacks. They thus avoid having to play an additional playoff in the final phase of C3. A breakthrough for the young Spanish-Moroccan player after the goals at the Juvenil A (U19) of FC Barcelona (4) and Barça Atlétic (1), which did not allow him to rise to the Blaugrana first team (3 matches between Liga and Copa del Rey).

After the FC Barcelona academy that he joined in 2007 and where he remained until 2013, Ilias continues his training at Gimnastic Manresa for four years. In 2017, he returned to La Masia. He made his debut for FC Barcelona Atlètic, which he will leave in July 2023 after signing a four-season contract with Villarreal FC, where he will certainly write the most beautiful pages of his football career.

Attracted by the player’s talent, Morocco and Spain did not hesitate to summon him. This is how he defended the jersey of La Roja in the youth teams from the U16s to the Espoirs of which he was captain (33 caps in total on 4 categories), reports FootMercato. While Spain is counting on him, he definitively turns his back on it to join the den of the Atlas Lions (U-23) in November. He is a starter against the Danish Espoirs (3-0 defeat). For him, it is a joy to represent Morocco. "I am extremely happy to finally have the chance to represent my country in this national team that I have always dreamed of joining," he said.