Marcelino and Musacchio believe the team must fight tooth and nail to defend their lead
As difficult as it is attractive. This is the test that Villarreal will face tomorrow in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 32 tie against a powerful SSC Napoli side (San Paolo stadium, 21:05pm CET) as they try to defend their 1-0 lead gained in El Madrigal. In the press conference prior to the match, manager Marcelino García Toral stressed both the greatness of the challenge they face and the importance of being solid defensively.
“This is a very important match, we feel good because we are coming here on an undefeated streak, but we know that it will be very difficult. We hope to make the advantage we have count, although we are very much aware of how tough this will be. They’re a great team and they won’t give us any leigh way. We know that a goal would give us a great advantage, as for every goal we score they have to score two. Our aim is firstly to keep defending well and from there to look to go for goal when we can”.
The manager also confirmed that there won’t be rotations to put out the best possible eleven. “We’re going to start with the eleven players that we consider to be the best we have to win this game, they seem to think they can choose, but we’re going with everything. We rotated players in Atletico’s Calderón stadium, and I think there’s a time to rest, but we’ll put out the best starting line-up possible”.
With respect to the rival, the Yellows manager highlighted the intensity of the sky-blues and the quality of Higuaín, their top goalscorer. “I expect Napoli to be the way they always are, they are a very identifiable team as they attack in high numbers and defend passionately. With their fans behind them, this is not a team to be speculated about, they’re doing well in the league and therefore they’re a unique team in this competition. For this reason I expect us to come up against a highly motivated Napoli side who will come out with all guns blazing. Without a shadow of a doubt Higuaín is the most dangerous player for them, having scored 24 goals this season. We already know him from when he passed through our league and so we know how dangerous he is. If he plays we will try to hold him up and this is what we’ve been preparing for”.
Musacchio: “They’re a side that will push us to the max”
Together with the Villarreal manager, centre back Mateo Musacchio also made an appearance, stressing the great effort it will take to get through to the next round. “The tie, the rival, the pitch, and we suppose the game, all motivate me. It’s a pleasure to play against Higuaín, but the match is the most important thing. We know what we’re going to face, they’re a strong, dangerous team that are going to make us work hard. We hope that by working hard we can get through to the next round”.
For the Argentinian defender the team’s defensive strength will be key against the ‘partenopeos’. “We’ll take this game like any other, playing safe and making sure that they don’t score on us in defence and then go forward from that base. We’ll play as we always do, to the max”.
