The Villarreal head coach hailed his side’s performance against FC Salzburg
Content. That’s how Unai Emery was feeling after his team’s win against FC Salzburg in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 (0-2). For the Basque manager, this win should help the Submarine recoup their morale: “This result gives us confidence to follow the playing style we’ve established. In the first half we were in control, but we needed to cause them more problems. In the second half, the match changed. We had answers on the counter attack and we found the second goal. We had to defend deep, but the team put in a good performance.”
For Emery, the two-legged tie is far from over: “We want to have a nice journey in the Europa League. The aim was to win in the first 90 minutes, with a complete performance. We need to be prudent, because there are 90 minutes left and Salzburg are a good team. We’re feeling better and we’ve taken a step forward. We need to continue working hard to get through this round.”
Another positive from the game was the defensive solidity shown by Villarreal against the Austrian league leaders. “Keeping a clean sheet is an important step towards what we want to feel like as a team. We defend solidly. In the first half, they created little. Keeping a clean sheet can help us feel secure ahead of the upcoming games,” concluded Emery.
