Marcelino has underlined the importance of the fans in the game against a direct rival in the fight for European football
Marcelino García Toral has appeared in front of the media this Friday to analyse the upcoming game against Real Betis, which takes place this Sunday, at 6:30pm CET, at the Estadio de la Cerámica.
“We’re going into the game happy and with excitement. We’ve shown that we’re a good team for most of the season. We had a big setback against Pontevedra in a different competition and we lost against Athletic. Now, we’re playing against a team who have the same aspirations as us, a direct opponent, at our stadium. We’re going into the game hoping for a victory,” said Marcelino in his opening statements.
Furthermore, the Villarreal head coach underlined the need to compete at the highest level possible, despite the absentees: “We’re in a run at the moment where we keep on accumulating injuries, and we start to have players missing through suspension. These things happen. It’s football. Despite that, we have footballing arguments and players available to be able to perform at the highest level. We ask our fans to get behind us.”
Marcelino called on the supporters to back the side in one of the most important matches for the Yellows this season: “We’re playing against a direct opponent. Now is when the team needs the help and support of the fans. We’re playing at the Estadio de la Cerámica and we need to be strong here to stay towards the top of the table: We’re coming up against a direct opponent and we need to compete at the highest level.”
As well as Betis, the Yellows host Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday at the Estadio de la Cerámica. Two extremely important matches to try and get six points: “We’re coming into this on the back of two bad results. We can speak about recovering from that. Not in terms of the table. We’ve competed well in the league, although some points, like against Girona, have slipped away from us because of small details. Against Athletic, we also knew how to compete, but the opponents were decisive in both boxes. Now, we need to focus on every match, Try and beat Betis and then win the following game to end the year as well as possible.”
Marcelino also praised Real Betis, a direct opponent in the fight for Europe: “They’ve just faced Barça and performed well, and they beat Atlético de Madrid. I think Betis have a really good team, but they’ve had a lot of injuries, especially at centre-back. They’re one of the teams who create most danger, and one of the teams who conceded the fewest chances. They’re a good team, who will force us to be at our best and perform really well. At home, we are capable of beating anyone and we need to show that.”
Finally, Marcelino spoke about the fight for Europe: “We’re going to try and be in a fight for Europe with at least four other teams. Out of those sides, the only one who isn’t currently in Europe is us. The other sides are experienced teams who are playing in Europe, and we came into this season from a difficult situation. We’re fighting for a beautiful objective, which we think is where Villarreal should be, but we’re not there at the moment.”
