The head coach underlines the importance of not letting Rangers affect the style of play
Villarreal manager Javi Calleja, alongside defender Álvaro González, appeared in front of the press to analyse the upcoming UEFA Europa League matches against Rangers FC (Thursday, 9pm CET). The manager underlined the need to be true to his philosophy and not let Steven Gerrard’s team’s style of play affect Villarreal’s own style: “We can’t make the error of playing like them. We need to be ourselves, wanting the ball and trying to find our dangerous men. We are going to be competitive and we will go for the victory.”
The coach underlined the eagerness to get a win which would qualify his side for the last 32 of the Europa League: “We’re not coming here to sit back. We want a win and we want to guarantee qualification as soon as possible and forget this competition to focus on LaLiga.”
Calleja believes winning at Ibrox would give the team confidence going into upcoming matches: “A win would be great for us psychologically, because it would mean we would have two wins in a row. It would improve morale, give us trust in how we’re playing and make us more self-confident.”
Finally, the Villarreal manager underlined that the great atmosphere that there will be at Ibrox will only serve as a further incentive for a win: “They’re a big team, even more when they play at home. I’m expecting a deafening atmosphere. They have called on their fans to get behind them and I’m sure they will because they need the win. For us, that only gives us more motivation to try and confirm our place in the knockout stage.”
Álvaro González: “We all dream about matches like this”
Villarreal defender Álvaro González recognised that Ibrox is a unique setting, one where all footballers dream of playing: “It’s a privilege and we want to win here to get to the next round and be able to say to our grandchildren that we beat Rangers at their stadium.”
