The Villarreal head coach hailed his side’s good work against Real Valladolid (0-2)
Villarreal CF head coach Unai Emery underlined the importance of the three points against Real Valladolid (0-2), which keep the Submarine fully in the European fight. “We’ve taken a step forward. We positioned ourselves well with the ball. In the first half, we had a lot of control, although the goal didn’t arrive. In the second half, we had a good chance through Pedraza, but from there they pushed us higher. They had a great chance where Asenjo made a big save. Then Gerard’s goal gave us the continuity to put in a good performance. The second goal arrived late on and I think we won the game quite convincingly at the end. We weren’t a lot better, but we deserved the win,” he commented.
There are two LaLiga games left and a lot to play for: “Winning was important to keep our options in tact. What’s more, we have the Europa League final that if we win will give us a ticket to the Champions League. Today’s win is good for us because we had three bad days after the Celta game. This win reinforces us and gives us a push to continue in the fight for the European spots,” he analysed.
Regarding Gerard’s goal, which has broken the LaLiga record for Villarreal (55), Emery hailed the Catalan: “That Gerard is the top goalscorer in LaLiga is pleasing for all of us. He makes the Villarreal project a big one. It’s a humble club, but a big club. Just like Gerard. We’re all very pleased.”
Now Villarreal will try and recover ahead of Sunday’s game against Sevilla (6:30pm CEST). A match where public will return to the Estadio de la Cerámica. “I’m pleased that there will be public. I would be even happier if there were public in every stadium. Now we need to adapt to playing with public, but it’s good news. The fact that we have Mario and Rulli suspended conditions us in this final stretch. On Sunday against Sevilla, we will have to manage the effort we put in today, to find the best XI possible,” concluded Emery.
