The Villarreal captain is ambitious and wants to seize the opportunity to look up the table

Villarreal defender Raúl Albiol has appeared before the media to analyse the current goings on for the Submarine, who will face Real Sociedad this Sunday at the Estadio de la Cerámica, with kick-off at 6:30pm CEST.

The defender began the press conference by confirming his physical improvement: “I’m better than last week. My intention is to join the team and see how I feel”.

Raúl Albiol also focused on the Yellows’ next game against the Basque side, in a direct duel for Europe: “It’s a very important game. Winning it would allow us to look up and fight for fifth and fourth place. If we lose, we will have to defend and fight for sixth place”.

A great opportunity for Villarreal, who have three wins and a draw in their last four league games. And the Yellows No.3 wants to continue in that good line: “We must offer our best level and fight to get the three points, which would change our idea between now and the end of the season. Our objective is to get into Europe, but if we can, we would like to get our hopes up for the Champions League.”

Regarding the opposition, Albiol emphasised the team’s deep respect for a strong team that is established in the Champions League zone: “They are a very well worked team, dynamic and with quality. They are one of the toughest teams in LaLiga. We have to give our best because we expect them to give theirs. Against them, they tend to be very evenly matched games. We are direct rivals and we have a lot of respect for them. They have played some great games against us. We like to play against them and this time we want to beat them.”

Finally, the captain showed his gratitude to the fans, who last week included him in the Villarreal CF historic XI, officially announced in the Legends Match: “It’s an award that people vote for and to see that they appreciate you always makes you happy. It’s my fourth season here and I feel at home. I want to repay all the affection on the pitch, that people are happy with my work and that the club is happy with my performance.”