The Basque manager underlined that Villarreal will need to put in a serious performance, have possession and be ready for a demanding match
Villarreal CF head coach Unai Emery appeared in front of the media this lunchtime ahead of the upcoming match against Real Sociedad, that will take place at 4.15pm CET tomorrow (Saturday) at the Reale Arena. Here are the standout themes he spoke about:
The team’s form
“Every game will say something about the form we are in. We’ve got three important wins in a row in three different competitions. The most recent games have allowed a number of players to be involved and the team has a great on-the-pitch attitude. Tomorrow, we will try and find the best XI possible, and adapt ourselves to facing a tough opponent, because the result that we get will say a lot about where we are.”
The key to the match
“Matches last for 90 minutes, and you can’t take any of those 90 minutes for granted. We need to be serious, be firm, be calm on the ball and know how to adapt ourselves to what the opponent demands. Real Sociedad are a team who will want to impose themselves and take control of the ball. We need to try and find small victories in individual duels to hurt them. The three points up for grabs are also very important for them, so they will try and find the way of making the game more in their favour than in ours.”
A team competing for the same aims
“Despite the distance, Real Sociedad, are in theory a direct rival. They have similar aims to ours, but they have an advantage at the moment compared to us, looking at the table.”
Sporting Gijón, next up in the cup
“We have a lot of respect for Sporting Gijón. They’re a club in the second tier, but they should be in the top flight because of what they are in Spanish football. They started the season very well, although they have had a few worse results recently, but we have the maximum respect for them, because it is going to be a very tough tie, as other matches in the competition have shown.”
