In his first season with Villarreal, Unai Emery delivered the club’s first Europa League title. In his second, he has engineered an even bigger continental result — and arguably his masterpiece to date.

On Tuesday, Villarreal knocked European giants Bayern Munich out of the Champions League with a 1-1 away draw at Allianz Arena, advancing to their second-ever semifinals 2-1 on aggregate.

Since joining the Yellow Submarine on a three-year deal, Emery has made the most of a club that have been massively outspent by Europe’s heavyweights and are an afterthought in La Liga.

• Villarreal brought in $134.9M in revenue during the 2020-21 season, not even cracking the world’s top 30; Bayern earned $633.7M — good for third.
• In 2021-22, they rank 34th in the world in transfer fees ($170M); Bayern rank 11th ($418.6M).
• They finished seventh in La Liga last year, only qualifying for UCL with their Europa title.
• Villarreal have never won La Liga and are once again sitting seventh in the table; if they don’t improve their position, they’ll have to win the Champions League to qualify for next season’s edition.

Emery made his name by winning an unprecedented three consecutive Europa titles as Sevilla’s manager from 2013 to 2016, but this is the furthest he’s ever advanced in the Champions League.

If Villarreal want to extend their dream run, they’ll have to do so against either Benfica or Liverpool in the semifinals.

A month ago, the Raiders made a blockbuster trade to bring Davante Adams to Las Vegas — reuniting the wideout with his college quarterback. 

On Wednesday, Derek Carr reportedly agreed to a three-year, $121.5 million extension, keeping him under contract through 2025 and including a no-trade clause.

At 31, the longest-tenured QB in the AFC West is finally getting paid like a top-tier signal-caller.

• Carr is set to earn $19.9M this season (No. 15 among QBs) — the last of his five-year, $125M extension from 2017.
• When his new extension starts in 2023, he’ll be the seventh player to ever earn $40M per year.
• His $40.5M AAV will rank fifth in the NFL (Aaron Rodgers, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen).
• He threw for a career-high 4,804 yards and tossed 23 TDs in 2021; he holds the franchise record in passing yards (31,700) and TD passes (193).

Though Carr is fifth among active QBs for both game-winning drives (30) and fourth-quarter comebacks (24), he’s led the Raiders to just two postseasons and hasn’t won a playoff game. 

But if the Vegas fanbase is excited for Year 1 of the Carr-Adams duo, bookmakers aren’t convinced just yet: The Raiders have the 17th-best odds to win the Super Bowl (+3,500).

The Nets formed a new Big Three at the trade deadline, but Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons have yet to play a game together.

Now, after clinching the 7-seed for a first-round series against Boston, there’s a good chance that Simmons (back) could make his season debut in Game 3 or 4 in Brooklyn.

That’s good news for the Nets, who have dedicated 63% of their payroll to the trio — with a $33 million cap hit for Simmons alone.

• Durant, Irving, and Simmons account for $110M of Brooklyn’s $174.5M payroll.
• Brooklyn’s 10th-worst defensive rating (112.3) would improve immensely with the two-time All-Defensive First Teamer.
• Simmons’ 106.1 defensive rating in 2020-21 was tied for fourth in the NBA.
• With Simmons on the court last year, the 76ers had a 107.4 defensive rating, which would’ve ranked second.

This season’s Nets have posed a conundrum for sportsbooks and bettors: Brooklyn is a star-studded team on paper whose stars have barely played together. 

Yet despite making the postseason as a 7-seed through the play-in, the Nets still have the third-best odds (+600) to win it all behind the Suns (+255) and Bucks (+475). 

Brooklyn also has a slight advantage (-120) to win its series with Boston (-110) — but at Caesars Sportsbook, 98% of bettors have put their money on the Celtics to win the series.