Unai Emery underlines that the team need to be strong at home against Celta to achieve their European objective
After the euphoria, a new challenge awaits. Villarreal are in the UEFA Europa League final, but before that, they need to play four more games in LaLiga to decide their future. Next up is RC Celta at the Estadio de la Cerámica (Sunday, 6:30pm CEST).
For Emery, showing strength at home will be fundamental for the outcome of the domestic competition: “In the first half of the season, we were strong at home, albeit with many draws. In the second half, we’ve found it a bit harder, we’ve let points slip away from us, and we need to step up at home. We need to be strong at home, recover positive sensations, and it’s time to be at our best at our stadium.”
Regarding the upcoming opponent, the Villarreal head coach warned of the potential of the Galician side: “Celta are a brave side, with players who are good on the ball in the middle of the pitch. I’m expecting a good Celta side, a motivated team who come to us with some players missing, but with others who are in good form. Away, we beat them when they were on a good run, and now they’re in good form once more.”
Emery wants his team to stay on the right path: “The idea is to maintain the journey and the trajectory, maintain a playing style and continue on what we’ve built on. We have players who are used to this level, to play often and continue playing well. Celta are trying to get into the European fight, Real Sociedad have won, and we need to defend our position against Betis, so we know the importance of the game,” he explained.
Regarding potential changes to the starting XI, Emery did not want to give any clues: “We are going to see how the players have recovered. The hangover and the emotion should be behind us. We need to be focused on what’s ahead of us, we know the final is on the horizon and we need to think about it, but the league gives us consistency, and we’re thinking about securing our European objective that way.”
See Emery’s full press conference (in Spanish) by clicking play.
