The Villarreal Manager and Denis Cheryshev are excited ahead of their match vs Steaua București
In the press conference at the Arena Nationala stadium this afternoon Villarreal Manager, Fran Escribá, warned that his team will have to play very well to beat Steaua București this Thursday, in their second match in the Group stage of the UEFA Europa League. “We know our opponents well. They are a strong team, with good individuals and international players. I’m sure they’re going to make things difficult for us. I want to highlight their collective strength. They have significant players, but their greatest strength is that collectively they are a strong side. We will have to give our all to win”, he analyzed.
For Escribá, the fact that he can now count on the majority of his players, apart from the injured Soldado, has made the Yellows even more optimistic: “For us to have a full squad is very important. We have recovered players that had difficulty in preseason due to injuries. For example, I’m sure that Cheryshev will be a fundamental piece in this team, he just needs a bit more playing time. We played the Champions League Playoffs with Reserve team players on the bench and now all those we have as subs are professionals. In addition, we all know each other a bit better now. The key factor behind why we are doing now is because we have more players back”.
The Yellows Manager was confident in his team’s chances: “From the outset the only thing that serves us is a win. Draws are always a bad result at the start of a match, although after it depends on how the game developed. Steaua have very good players and want to get points. We are both teams that play good football and we will try not to make any mistakes in and around our area. We don’t want to give them anything easy”.
Cheryshev: “We face this competition full of enthusiasm”
The other star in the press room at the Arena Nationala stadium in Bucharest was Denis Cheryshev. The Spanish-Russian midfielder recognized that both he and his teammates are really excited about the UEFA Europa League: “We’re going into this game full of enthusiasm. We’re excited for this competition and last year Villarreal were on the brink of making it to the final”.
Escribá could make rotations with respect to the last match played against Osasuna. “We all want to play and the only thing we want to do is take away the three points, although we know it won’t be easy. We want to top the group to go into the next round”, Cheryshev asserted.
Lastly, the Yellows number 7 assured that he feels fitter and fitter every day after recovering from a serious injury: “I feel good. I’m in a good phase of transition. I’m getting into the team more and more. I don’t have any niggles and I’m feeling good and getting my confidence back. It’s a question of time and with hard work I hope to get back to my best”.
