Venezuelan Salomon Rondon was unable to make a strong entrance in his return to Spanish football after thirteen years at Malaga when he missed a penalty on Friday that led to a 2-0 defeat to Villarreal away from home at the start of the 2025-2026 La Liga season.

It was undoubtedly a bitter start for the former Pachuca striker, who undoubtedly tried his luck with the penalty kick, but his failure ultimately led to a painful setback for the squad led by an old acquaintance of Mexican football such as the Serbian Veljko Paunovic.

Rondon's mistake did not can be overlooked, as it would have meant the goal that would have put the Oviedo side ahead on the scoreboard, but "King Solomon" couldn't get his footing on the ball and it ended up hitting the turf and falling into the hands of Brazilian goalkeeper Luiz Junior.

That mistake undoubtedly bothered even coach Paunovic, who from the sideline on the bench just shook his head in disapproval, as his best offensive man couldn't make the difference with his 18-year career as a professional footballer since his beginnings at Aragua FC in his country.

A major challenge

More Regardless of the result, the task for Veljko Paunovic's team was undoubtedly not easy, especially due to the complexity of a customs office as complicated as that of the "Yellow Submarine", with the precedent of having secured a ticket to the Champions League after a brilliant 2024-2025 season.

In this way, Rondon's mistake occurred in the 13th minute when goalkeeper Luiz Junior brought down Ilyas Chaira in a late attempt at clearance, giving way to the penalty that Rondon ended up giving away, to mark the visiting team's outcome in a painful result that could have been closer or different with that option missed by the Venezuelan

The start of the debacle

It seemed that the penalty could have been remedied with a better style from the Oviedo team, but the reality is that their world fell apart, since a few minutes later they were left with ten men with the expulsion of midfielder Alberto Reina for a second yellow card in the 27th minute.

Two minutes later, Cameroonian Etta Eyong managed to put his team ahead 1-0 in the middle of a maelstrom that in the 36th minute the Senegalese Pape Gueye, achieved the 2-0 in a result that allowed Villarreal to walk with peace of mind and ordering a completely defensive scheme to avoid a massacre

Thus, Rondon added his fourth missed penalty in his entire career, among which are one against Honduras, another against Beijing Chengfeng in China, and another against the Italian national team in front of the goalkeeper in front of Gianluigi Donnarumma.