The Yellow Submarine were the fourth best team in the second half of the LALIGA EA SPORTS season
Marcelino García Toral returned to Vila-real last November to revive the Submarine. The Asturian arrived at La Cerámica to become the third coach of the season to occupy the yellow bench after Quique Setién and Pacheta. The team was going through a difficult time, immersed in the lower part of the table, in 14th place, with a five-point advantage over the relegation zone.
An unflattering situation, which Marcelino has completely turned around. The coachgave the Submarine a 180-degree turnaround at the helm and put them back on the path of good results. If only the results achieved since his arrival as Submarine coach are taken into account, Villarreal would be in seventh place, level on points with sixth. All this thanks to a magnificent second half of the season in which they were the fourth best team behind only Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid.
The Asturian head coach’s first spell at the club, which lasted three and a half seasons, (from January 2012/13 to the end of 2015/16) was marvellous. He took the team from the second division, promoted them with an impeccable half-season and secured two consecutive qualifiers for the UEFA Europa League and one for the UEFA Champions League, giving the groguets a fantastic semi-final of the second continental competition in the 2015/16 campaign in which Klopp’s Liverpool deprived the Yellows of fulfilling their dream of playing in the first major continental final, which they would manage to play in 2021 and win it.
An impeccable return
The first few months after his return have been more than remarkable. Under him, the team has grown in confidence and this change has translated into great results. The comparison between the first and second half of the league season is proof of this: the Yellows started the second half of the league competition in 13th place, four points behind the red zone, and finished it in eighth place, 20 points behind. And only four points away from qualifying for European competition, a dream that vanished, after a great ‘climb’, on the penultimate matchday after the 4-4 draw against Real Madrid.
In the second half of the season, the Submarine have achieved four more wins and three more draws than in the first half of the season. This clear improvement in results, which has translated into 15 points more than in the first half of the season, has taken them up to eighth place. Marcelino’s team has also benefited in terms of goals scored, scoring eleven more goals and conceding exactly the same number of goals less in the second half of the season.
Despite arriving with the season already underway and with the team in a difficult moment in terms of results, Marcelino managed to lift the players’ spirits and recover a clear playing identity, both in attack and defence, with his own stamp. In addition, he has managed to get the best out of some players, especially Álex Baena, who has been the top assist man in LALIGA EA SPORTS, and Sorloth, who has scored 10 goals in the last nine games played and was on the verge of being the top scorer of the competition.
