Álvaro González highlights the attitude of the side, who could overcome adversities in a tough campaign
Álvaro González appeared in front of the Villarreal CF TV cameras after the match between the Yellows and SD Eibar at the Estadio de la Cerámica, a game which confirmed the groguets’ mathematical survival in LaLiga.
In the dressing room, there was a mix of emotions, as Álvaro described: “There’s a real mix of feelings because after the suffering of this year, when we were in a complicated situation. At one point, we needed two games at least to get out of the relegation zone, but the team fought back.”
He underlined the team’s passion and commitment to turn around the bad situation: “As we’ve seen, this month, the team showed self-respect when we most needed it. I believe we’ve got a lot of points recently, from six games, we won four and drew another, and that is down to the group’s hard work. We’re very happy, as you can imagine, and to be in Primera next year is a massive joy for the fans and our families who’ve suffered with us.”
The defender underlined the importance of learning from tough situations ahead of the future: “I think you learn from every situation you live. I’d already experienced, sadly, two relegations and they’re tough moments. When you’re there at the bottom, the pressure is really different. When you’re in favourable situations, everything is prettier, easier, but when you’re in a tough situation, your legs are heavy, your head goes round in circles and you need to try and stop all this from happen. That really gives more value to what we’ve achieved. I’m really sure that this group will learn from this situation, and hopefully it will be the last time we have bad experiences like that, and everything is much nicer from here onwards.”
The centre-back also had to speak about the support from the fans during the week building up to the tie, and in the 90 minutes throughout the match too: “Today, for us, they were our backbone, and the fans knew that too. They made us feel their support throughout the week.”
As Álvaro explained, Javi Calleja underlined the importance of the match to the players before the game: “The gaffer tried to make us realise the importance of the match. In the three years I’ve been here, there have been many important matches, but when you’re playing to stay in the top flight, it’s even more important. It is true that in certain moments of the game, you could note that anxiousness and the nerves to win, and that situation didn’t help us, but the most important thing was to get the win.”
This week, the town of Vila-real is celebrating the local festivities of Sant Pasqual, which means that the home win could create a party atmosphere for the fans: “It was important to reach our aim in front of our fans. It’s currently the festivities in the town, so I hope they’re happy and they can celebrate it with the people from the club, with their families.”
