Villarreal will form a guard of honour for Real Madrid LaLiga Santander Honouring the Club World Cup win

Real Madrid will be welcomed onto the pitch for the first time in 2019 with a guard of honour as Villarreal have confirmed they will respectfully greet the recently crowned world champions.

Last season Barcelona refused to form a guard of honour for Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on December 23, 2017, with the Catalans claiming they didn't see it as appropriate as both sides had not competed in the Club World Cup.

Villarreal, though, will participate, as they believe that this is a tradition used to mark the winning of any official competition and last season they provided the same service for Barcelona after they had been crowned LaLiga Santander champions.

In 2009 Villarreal also provided a guard of honour to the then Club World Cup champions, Pep Guardiola's Barcelona.