The coach highlighted the team’s resilience and reaction to secure an important away victory
Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral spoke to the media after his side’s solid 2-0 win against RCD Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium.
“I’m very pleased with the victory, because today we came to a very tough ground where Espanyol had been getting great results. They had won four and drawn one of their six home matches. On top of that, we were coming off a difficult result that could have hurt us,” explained the Asturian coach.
Marcelino also emphasised the team’s strong response after the setback against Pafos: “Today we saw the players’ mentality. I want to thank them and congratulate them, because we picked ourselves up. We’ve turned the Pafos game into an anecdote. I said that match didn’t define us, and it became a lesson. Today the team took that lesson on board and showed it clearly, with a result that, judging by the second half, could even have been bigger.”
In the same vein, the Yellow Submarine coach underlined the team’s good form: “The team is doing very well, as the table shows. We finished the game in second place. Out of 36 points, we’ve picked up 26, which is remarkable, especially as we’ve already faced every European side except Barça. We have to keep working with humility, but going into the break with a win is fantastic.”
Finally, Marcelino praised his side’s defensive solidity: “We’re the team that has conceded the fewest goals after 12 matchdays. The only two chances they created came late on, with a header and a shot from outside the box. There weren’t any others. We did things very well, because this team attacks and creates.”
