Buy Villarreal CF vs Alaves tickets for the 2026/27 Season, with the fixture set for Sunday 17 January 2027 and the kickoff currently listed at 18:00 local time at the Estadio de la Ceramica. It is Matchday 20, and it brings a visiting side to a ground where they have taken a single point from their last five La Liga trips.
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The setting is part of the appeal. Vila-real is a town of roughly fifty thousand people on the Castellon coast, and it fields a club playing Champions League football in the same season it hosts Alaves on a January Sunday. Demand for Villarreal CF tickets is shaped by a 23,008 capacity in a town that size.
The ground itself was rebuilt for the club's centenary and is now a fully enclosed bowl under a single roof, which matters more than it sounds for a winter fixture. The sections below cover demand, getting in without a membership, realistic price brackets, where to sit, delivery under Spanish entry rules and the eight steps from search to seat.
Three things drive demand here and the first is simple arithmetic. The Ceramica holds 23,008 in a town of about fifty thousand residents, which is a ratio no other club in the division comes close to. Season ticket holders and socios take the clear majority of that, and the club's support is drawn from across the Castellon province rather than the town alone, so the pool reaching open sale is small before anything else is counted.
The second is Villarreal's current standing. A club competing in the Champions League league phase brings a different kind of attention to its home fixtures, including from neutrals and travelling visitors building a weekend around a match. That lifts baseline demand across the whole calendar rather than only for the visits of Madrid and Barcelona.
The third is the visiting support. Alaves travel from Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country, a journey of some five hundred kilometres, and their allocation is modest at a ground of this size. Alaves tickets for away days of that length move through the club's own channels to the supporters most committed to making the trip, and the block does not stretch.
What this fixture does not have is the scarcity premium of a marquee visitor, and that is the useful part for a buyer. A mid-table opponent on a January Sunday is where the Ceramica is most reachable at sensible money, in a ground that has been completely rebuilt within the last few years. For anyone planning a Spanish football weekend without paying Madrid or Barcelona prices, this is a better target than the fixtures that get the headlines.
Yes, and the odds are better here than at the bigger Spanish clubs. Villarreal release in phases: abonado holders keep their seats, socios get a priority window, then a general sale opens. For a fixture against a mid-table side rather than a European heavyweight, that general sale usually reaches the open market with genuine inventory attached.
The away allocation is a separate matter. Alaves distribute their block through their own membership system, and the size of that block is set by the visiting sector at the Ceramica rather than by how many supporters want to travel. Once it is gone there is no second release, and for an overseas buyer with no affiliation to either club it was never an accessible route.
That leaves the resale market, which works well at a club of this profile. Seats reach 1BoxOffice from abonado holders who cannot make a particular Sunday, which at a 23,000-capacity ground with a strong season ticket base is a steady supply rather than an occasional one. Availability keeps refreshing across the range of the ground after the club's own phases close, including pairs and singles.
One practical note on Spanish entry. La Liga grounds have moved to digital access, with seats held in an app or wallet and gates reading a pass rather than a printed stub, and identification can be requested on entry. What applies to your particular seat depends on the listing, so the seller's notes on delivery and transfer are the part to read properly rather than skim.
Five factors set the number. Seat location leads, and at the Ceramica the spread is meaningful because the rebuild created clear tiers of comfort between the ends and the main stand. Demand is second and it runs steady rather than spiking for this opponent. Fixture timing is third, with a January Sunday drawing local support reliably while keeping the tourist trade lower than a spring weekend.
Competition context is fourth: a Matchday 20 fixture arrives as the table starts to settle, and a club with European commitments has a different set of priorities at that point in the season. Hospitality tier is fifth, and at a ground this size the premium products are a small market with their own floor.
| Ticket Type | Resale Price Range | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fondo, behind the goal | £35 – £65 | Budget buyers who want the atmosphere | The entry point at the Ceramica. End-on view, close to the pitch and now covered since the rebuild |
| Lateral, standard rows | £60 – £110 | A clear side-on read of the game | Where most visitors land. Sensible money for a genuine La Liga view |
| Tribuna, lateral | £100 – £170 | Better seats without the central premium | The main stand side away from the halfway line. Consistently strong value at this ground |
| Tribuna, central | £160 – £300 | Buyers who want the halfway line | The best sightlines in the stadium and the first category to sell through on any fixture |
| Hospitality and VIP | £300 – £700+ | Corporate guests and occasion buyers | Lounge access and catering included, at a fraction of what the equivalent costs in England |
Prices reflect typical resale ranges and may change as demand and availability shift closer to the match.
This ground has a longer history than its appearance suggests. It opened on 17 June 1923, the same year the club was founded, and spent most of its life known as El Madrigal after the rural land it was built on. The club renamed it the Estadio de la Ceramica in January 2017 in recognition of the ceramics industry that the town is built around, and the two names still appear interchangeably in older guides.
What changed everything was the centenary rebuild. A project completed in 2022 turned the ground into a fully enclosed bowl under a single unified roof, wrapped in a yellow ceramic facade, which means every seat is now covered. The Estadio de la Ceramica seating plan maps the sectors, and the wider Estadio de la Ceramica tickets listings show what is live across the rest of the season.
| Area | What It Suits | Pricing Bracket | Guidance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tribuna, central | Buyers who want the halfway line | Upper | The main stand, holding the premium seating and the hospitality areas. The clearest view and the first to sell |
| Tribuna, lateral | Comfort without the central price | Middle to upper | Same side of the ground, flatter angle. The value pick for anyone who wants the better facilities |
| Lateral, opposite side | A side-on view at a friendlier price | Middle | Faces the main stand across the pitch. Since the rebuild the sightlines here are genuinely good |
| Fondo Norte | Supporters who want the noise | Lower | One of the two ends. Where the more vocal home support gathers, with the pitch foreshortened |
| Fondo Sur | Value buyers and families | Lower | The opposite end, with the same end-on angle in a slightly calmer setting. Often the last to sell |
| Visiting supporters' sector | Travelling Alaves support | Fixed by allocation | A designated sector with its own entrances and segregated approach, modest in size at a ground of this capacity. Visiting colours belong there only |
For a first visit, the honest advice is that there is no bad seat here any more. The rebuild closed the corners, raised the tiers and put a roof over everything, which removes the usual winter calculation about cover. That makes the lateral opposite the main stand the clear value choice: you get a proper side-on view under a roof for a fraction of what the tribuna costs. Anyone chasing atmosphere should take a fondo, and families will find the quieter end the easier option.
Hospitality at the Ceramica was one of the main beneficiaries of the centenary work, and the club's published matchday information describes products built into the rebuilt main stand. The common thread is a central covered seat, indoor space before and after the match and catering that leans on the produce of the Valencian community rather than generic stadium fare.
| Hospitality Option | Typical Buyer | Main Appeal |
|---|---|---|
| Premium tribuna seat | Pairs upgrading from general admission | Central covered seating with better access and a comfortable wait before kickoff |
| Lounge package | Castellon businesses and visitors marking the trip | Indoor space either side of the match, regional catering included, seats held together |
| Private box | Companies hosting groups | Enclosed space with dedicated service and a clear central view of the pitch |
| Matchday experience package | Travelling supporters making an occasion of it | Seat plus extras, often including earlier access to a recently rebuilt stadium |
Two points before you commit. Hospitality here costs a fraction of the equivalent at an English or German club of similar standing, which makes it a realistic upgrade rather than an aspiration for most buyers. And because the facilities are new rather than retrofitted, the gap in quality between the premium and standard offer is wider than at grounds where hospitality has been bolted onto an older structure.
If you are buying hospitality second hand, read the inclusions and timings together. Lounge opening windows, whether catering runs before or after the match and whether parking is attached all vary by product, and the seller's notes carry that detail.
Spanish grounds run on digital access and Villarreal are no exception, so the practical question is how your seat reaches you and what you present at the turnstile. The four methods below cover what you are likely to see, and the listing states which applies before you reach checkout.
| Delivery Type | What to Check |
|---|---|
| Mobile or wallet transfer | That you have the app the seller names and that your phone will hold charge through the evening |
| E-ticket by email | Whether the file works from the screen alone and whether the named holder is checked at the gate |
| Collection in Vila-real | The collection point and its opening window, and how that fits a journey in from Valencia or Castellon |
| Courier or postal | That the delivery window clears your travel dates and that someone can take the package in |
Three habits prevent most problems. Read the listing notes in full before buying. Carry valid photo identification, normally a passport for overseas visitors, in case it is checked against the name on the seat. And if you are arriving on the day from Valencia, favour mobile or e-ticket delivery so that a collection window cannot become the thing that goes wrong.
1BoxOffice has run as a verified marketplace since 2006 and every order carries a 150% money-back guarantee, so the process is these eight steps and nothing more.
Step1
Open the fixture listing
Confirm the date, the kickoff and the venue on the listing before comparing seats. La Liga confirms exact kickoff times for broadcast a few weeks out, so the listing is a better reference than a calendar saved in the summer.
Step2
Set up your account
Browsing works without one, ordering does not. Take a minute to create an account under the name on the identification you will travel with, which keeps delivery and any later query straightforward.
Step3
Filter by budget and quantity
Set your ceiling and the number of seats before you look at sectors. At a 23,000-capacity ground with a large season ticket base, groups of four in one row go earlier than the headline availability suggests.
Step4
Choose your sector
Match the sector to what you want from the evening. Tribuna for comfort and the halfway line, the opposite lateral for value, a fondo for atmosphere. Since the rebuild every seat is covered, so weather is no longer part of the decision.
Step5
Read the listing notes
The step most people skip and the one that matters most. The notes state the delivery method, whether seats are adjacent, any restricted view and what the seller provides. Almost everything that catches a buyer out was written here first.
Step6
Compare on the total
Carry two or three options to the summary and judge them on the final figure with fees and delivery included. At La Liga price points the fees form a larger share of the total than they would on a three-figure ticket.
Step7
Complete the purchase
Pay through the secure checkout and save the confirmation where you can open it on a phone in Vila-real. Your order reference is what any later query turns on, so keep it reachable rather than buried in an inbox at home.
Step8
Follow your delivery
Use track order to see where your seats have reached, then check again in the match week. If collection in Vila-real applies, note the opening window before you plan the journey from the coast.
Vila-real is easier to reach than its size suggests. Valencia is the practical airport at around an hour away by road, with Barcelona a longer but workable alternative. The town sits on the Mediterranean rail corridor with its own station a short walk from the centre. Castellon is ten minutes up the line and offers more accommodation than the town itself, which is worth knowing for a Sunday evening kickoff.
For groups, choose a listing that confirms seats are adjacent rather than buying two pairs and hoping they align. The other thing to plan around is movement in the kickoff. La Liga confirms broadcast slots a few weeks ahead and a Sunday fixture can shift by several hours within the day, which matters more here than in a big city because the last train back along the coast is not especially late. Keep travel flexible where you can and check the listing in the fortnight before.
These clubs are not rivals in any traditional sense. Villarreal sit on the Castellon coast while Alaves come from Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country, five hundred kilometres north, and there is no shared history or regional grievance between them. What there is, over the last several seasons, is an increasingly one-sided pattern at this particular ground.
Across the five most recent La Liga meetings at the Ceramica, Alaves have taken a single point. Villarreal have won four and drawn one, scoring fifteen goals and conceding five in the process. The visitors' one positive result was a 1-1 draw in October 2023, and they have not left Vila-real with three points at any point in this sequence.
The gap in the middle is worth explaining rather than glossing over: there was no meeting in 2022/23 because Alaves spent that season in the Segunda Division, returning to La Liga the following summer. What the record does not tell you is how the fixture will go, because Villarreal's league position has moved considerably across those seasons and both squads have turned over. What it does explain is the temperature of the occasion: a home crowd that expects to win and a visiting support making a five-hundred-kilometre trip to a ground where they have very little to show for recent visits.
The figures below cover every La Liga meeting at the Estadio de la Ceramica with Villarreal as hosts from the 2020/21 season onwards, each result confirmed against independent match reports. The ground has carried two names in its history and is treated as one venue. Fixtures in Vitoria-Gasteiz and meetings in cup competitions fall outside this record.
| Metric | Total |
|---|---|
| Matches played | 5 |
| Villarreal wins | 4 |
| Alaves wins | 0 |
| Draws | 1 |
| Villarreal goals | 15 |
| Alaves goals | 5 |
| Biggest Villarreal win | 5-2 |
| Points taken by Alaves | 1 |
| First meeting in scope | 30 September 2020 |
| Most recent meeting in scope | 10 January 2026 |
Figures calculated from the match-by-match record below, with every result cross-referenced against two independent sources.
La Liga fixtures between the sides at the Estadio de la Ceramica with Villarreal hosting since 2020/21, newest first. Scores are shown with Villarreal first. There was no meeting in 2022/23, when Alaves were in the Segunda Division.
| Date | Score |
|---|---|
| 10 Jan 2026 | 3-1 |
| 09 Nov 2024 | 3-0 |
| 22 Oct 2023 | 1-1 |
| 21 Dec 2021 | 5-2 |
| 30 Sep 2020 | 3-1 |
Each result verified against league match centre records and independent match archives.
No. Season ticket holders and members get priority through the club's phased release, but a fixture against a mid-table side usually reaches general sale with inventory, and resale keeps the home sectors open after that.
Yes. It opened in 1923 and was known as El Madrigal for most of its life before the club renamed it the Estadio de la Ceramica in January 2017 in recognition of the town's ceramics industry.
Yes, since the centenary rebuild completed in 2022. The ground is now a fully enclosed bowl under a single unified roof, so unlike many Spanish stadiums the weather does not need to shape your choice of sector.
Visiting supporters are housed in a designated sector with separate entrances and a segregated approach. Away colours belong in that sector only, and wearing them in a home area is a safety issue as well as grounds for refusal.
Valencia is the nearest practical airport at around an hour by road, and the town sits on the Mediterranean rail corridor with its own station. Castellon, ten minutes up the line, offers more accommodation than Vila-real itself.
Sources: official La Liga match centre records and club match reports for every fixture listed, the official Villarreal CF records for the stadium's naming history, capacity and centenary redevelopment, independent match archives including ESPN, Sky Sports, Sports Mole and WhoScored used as a second source on each result, plus the official 2026/27 La Liga fixture calendar for the matchday, date and scheduled kickoff.