Álvaro González underlines that the team will give their all against Eibar to try and confirm survival
Villarreal defender Álvaro González appeared in front of the press to analyse the current goings-on surrounding the team ahead of the important match this Sunday (6:30pm CEST) at the Estadio de la Cerámica against Eibar, with the Yellows playing to try and confirm their place in the top flight of Spanish football next season.
The footballer insisted that it is crucial to face Sunday’s ‘cup final’ with as much of a calm nature as possible so that they do not get overwhelmed by the situation: “We need to strike the balance between nerves and calmness, and we know what we’re playing for against Eibar. Taking into account the moments we’ve experienced this season, we are in the best situation possible. The dynamics need to be positive after three wins in a row, a draw against Huesca and a loss at the Bernabéu, where I think the team could have got something more. Now we’re going into the most important match in recent years.”
The centre-back emphasised the importance to play with a cool head against the Basque side: “The head has to rule instead of the body. It’s an really important part of the game that you need to work on, especially in this situations. Our aim at the moment is to have a positive mentality so thinks come off and from there, we will grow as a team in a match where everything is at stake.”
The Yellows No.3 highlighted that taking control of the match will be crucial to try and get the three points in front of the fans: “In situations like these, rushing can be bad. During the 90 minutes, we need to try and be superior and have that show in the result. We need to try and feel comfortable from the start, because when we have been like that, we’ve been the better team and we’ve caused many more problems to our opponents. When things become more difficult, the team feels a bit of nerves and that means our style of play can be affected. We have quality players and that’s the DNA that has helped us win in recent weeks. We’re a strong team and if the team defends well and as a block, we’re a hard team to get through. We have to take that into the match and try and win 50/50 situations. The basis of everything is that we’re playing for everything, and it’s us who need to leave everything on the pitch. We need to keep our heads because rushing can make us make errors which could make life harder in terms of trying to come away with a win. Achieving survival after such a difficult year would be positive for both us, the players, and the fans.”
Álvaro has underlined the good defensive work by the team in recent weeks and insists that following that path will be crucial to beat Eibar. “Our improvement in how we play and in results too is because of our defensive work. I’m not only speaking about the defence, but instead about the work of the block as a defensive team. It’s from there where we’ve become strong. The balance in the last month has been very positive and this Sunday, the basis to get the victory is to not concede and to grow as a team in attack.”
Ahead of the ‘cup final’ that the Yellow Submarine will play this Sunday, they know that the situation is ideal to confirm survival: “We aren’t going to change ourselves for no-one because we know that if we win, we’ll stay in the top flight. Everyone would like to be in our situation where it’s in our hands. Now everything is about whether we can win at home against Eibar. Hopefully it’s the day when things work out for us, as we’ve been working on it for a while, so we can celebrate and we can take away this weight that’s been on our shoulders in some games. At the end, any team can hurt you, but when you defend as a block, and you trust in what you can do, you get the reward. I’m convinced that we’re going to do it.”
