Marcelino describes the game against Girona as a great opportunity in the fight for third place
Villarreal head coach Marcelino García Toral has stated that Monday’s match away at Girona at Montilivi (9pm) will be very demanding, but also represents a great opportunity for the Submarino in their battle for third place in the LALIGA standings.
Return after the league break
“We don’t see international breaks as either positive or negative. They are scheduled, and we know there are matchdays without competition. It doesn’t change anything for us. You’re always aware of possible injuries, but everyone has returned without issues. Breaks are good to clear the mind. Now it’s time to focus again.”
Fight for third place
“We have to go step by step. Playing Girona away is always very difficult. At home, they achieve very good results with a strong possession-based game. We need to find our best version, because if we win it would be a big step towards third place and towards securing Champions League qualification. For many years now, there have been three very established teams in those top positions.”
The opponent’s style
“Getafe and Girona are different teams, different grounds and different game situations. I don’t know if it’s better or worse. We considered the trips to Vitoria and Getafe difficult, and this one is too. Right now, Girona are much more solid. They started the season with many difficulties, but now they are in a much more comfortable position.”
Three consecutive away matches
“It’s not usual, but it’s happened due to the rescheduling of the Copa del Rey final. Other teams are affected by this as well. In the end, we will play 19 matches at home and 19 away. You have to accept the order, and we don’t think beyond that.”
Winning away from home
“We have six away wins, but we haven’t won away in the second half of the season. You can look at the Levante game in two ways: it belongs to the first half of the season, but it was played later due to a postponement. It’s not that far away in time. In other matches, we were missing that little extra. In Getafe we should have done more, and against Alavés they scored without a shot on target and we had chances to win, but we could also have done better. Now we have a good opportunity to win away again. We must focus both our attitude and our performance on this game and then be decisive in both penalty areas.”
The team’s scoring output
“It’s difficult to beat last season’s goalscoring record because we scored a lot of goals. Scoring more goals means more points and brings us closer to third place — one goes hand in hand with the other. If we score more, the fans will enjoy it more. Picking up three points is much more important than the number of goals you score.”
