Marcelino has highlighted the team’s good sensations before the match against the Galicians (Wednesday, 7pm CEST)
Villarreal head coach, Marcelino García Toral, appeared before the media this Tuesday to analyse the match against RC Celta, corresponding to Matchday 33 of the 2024/25 LALIGA EA Sports season, which will take place this Wednesday at 7pm CEST at Balaídos.
He confirmed that the team is in good spirits after the controversial draw against Real Sociedad (2-2): “They’re fine and they have to be, because they did their job very well. We put in a very good performance. Maybe one of the best, if not the best so far this season. Then there are unforeseen circumstances that we can’t control. We should have scored four goals, but it didn’t happen. We can only focus on us. It was a shame not to win, but now we are fully focused on Celta.”
With regards to the match against the Galician side, Marcelino predicts a completely different game to the first meeting this season: “That day, although we won, we suffered a lot. They scored three goals against us and there could have been more. We mustn’t concede as much as we did that day. We have to play a tighter game. Celta demand a lot from you in defence, because they are a team that play well, that accumulate people on the last line of defenders and we have to defend the spaces well, whether it’s at the back of the defence or in between. And then we have to attack.”
The Yellows’ head coach also appreciated the fact that one of the best home sides and one of the best away sides in the league are facing each other: ’They’re a good team at home and I think they’ve got 30 points there. We’re the second best team away, but that’s not going to affect whether we can win or not. It will be what happens in those 90 minutes, how we are able to get close to our maximum level, how we counter an opponent that attacks very well, and from there, to be successful.”
With respect to the last few games, Marcelino underlined the good sensations with which the team is coming into the final stretch of the season: “We have to focus on ourselves. On what we are doing, which we are doing very well. We’ve played some very good games and it’s a shame that we haven’t always won. What does give us confidence is the competitive level we’ve been showing.”
Finally, Marcelino emphasised the schedules against Celta and Espanyol, who have a day longer than the Submarine to prepare for their games: “It’s a reality. These are circumstances that we have to accept. We have to overcome them and compete. They are opinions, but not complaints. We’re adapting, with one day less rest than the opponents we’re going to face. Our only intention is to win.”
