The Manager said Athletic’s goal sent the Submarine’s plans out the window
Villarreal Manager, Fran Escribá, explained after the match against Athletic Club that the locals’ goal ruined the Submarine’s plans, whose strategy worked well in the first half. “Our aim was to get into the game and more and more to take a step forward. Then, the game did open up a bit and they got their goal and that hurt us a lot. From that moment on we weren’t able to create chances and turn the score line around. Obviously, I’m disappointed, but our game plan was clear, and we executed it in the first half and up to a point in the second, and it worked well. But then we couldn’t pull a goal back when we went 1-0 down”.
With regard to the next match, Escribá said that it’s a different stage altogether and therefore the strategy will also be different: “Away games are hard, but they’re hard for everyone. Football is becoming more and more evenly matched at the top level and it’s really difficult to pick up points. This match has nothing to do with the Zurich match. There’s no room for error in Zurich. We need to win and so we have to be more attacking than we were today. Better attacking play will help us achieve a lot in the Europa League”.
