Uani Emery expects a tight match between two teams with personality
Villarreal CF head coach underlined that he expects a great game this Sunday against Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín (9pm CEST). It’s a match between two teams who hope to end the LaLiga season as high up the table as possible.
Opposition analysis
“Betis are a very well-defined team with good players and now have been playing under Pellegrini for several. They have defensive automatisms that make them a difficult team to score goals against, and offensively they have players with a lot of quality. They demand a lot from their opponents, they have players who stitch the game together, they play well on the wings with Álex Moreno, up front they have good options, like Borja Iglesias. They are playing well and winning their games. There are many things that we have in common that can make the difference. We take on the challenge of having personality.”
High level of the league
“LaLiga is the competition we give more importance to because of its regularity, but a lot of things are going to happen with a World Cup in between. There are very defined positions, but Valencia, Betis, us, Real, even Celta, want to get into that fight. We’ll see if those of us in Europe can keep our shape in all competitions. I’m convinced Sevilla will come back. We are demanding.”
A hard-fought game
“We have had all shorts of games against them, we could have beaten them but two years ago we lost 0-2. In the league they have been more consistent than us. I’m expecting a hard-fought game with two teams showing their own personalities. They are supported by their fans and that’s another plus. It’s not easy to score away from home. That’s the kind of demands that we have to live up to. The away response in the first few games was brilliant, but we have to continue tomorrow and keep up our high standards. We want to find answers in our idea of the game.”
Exciting
“We have a lot of players to give them each of them opportunities and that is very nice. There are young players who are responding. Samu Chukwueze, Yeremy Pino, Pau Torres, Nico Jackson, Álex Baena…they are young players, some of them more experienced, who are giving us a lot of things. And they combine with the veterans, and it all adds up to a good cocktail. There is motivation to overcome barriers and challenges. And tomorrow’s game in Seville is one of them. Winning is nice but winning a lot is only at the level of the chosen ones, and we want to be there. We want to break down barriers that we have yet to overcome.”
Praise for Pellegrini
“He is a role model and you learn from him. I’ve seen his teams and I’ve known him. Since 2007 I have played against him with Almeria and him at Villarreal. He is a coach of high performance at all levels. In terms of player selection, management, results… I have learned things from him, and he is doing a splendid job at Betis. He is finding a great level that is a sequence of what he started to do at Villarreal. For me he is a reference point to follow.”
