The Villarreal head coach predicts an intense match against Real Sociedad this Monday (9pm CET)
Villarreal CF head coach, Marcelino García Toral, has underlined that he expects a very difficult match this Monday against Real Sociedad (9pm CET) and stresses that being solid in both boxes will be key in a match which will have few clear goalscoring opportunities.
Analysis of Real Sociedad
“After an irregular start to the season, they have progressively improved and will continue to do so. In 18 games they have managed to keep 10 clean sheets. They are the second best team in the division in terms of goals conceded. In terms of goalscoring, they have not been very precise, although they have a lot of chances. They are very aggressive and we expect a very difficult game. Winning would be very important. I expect a very even match. It’s very difficult to score goals against them. We won’t have many chances to score because they are the team that concedes the least in their area.”
Competing after the break
“The fixtures are assigned like that. We would have liked to have had one more game, it would have meant staying in the cup, and you have to adapt to the new situation. A team that doesn’t compete during the week has to focus on training. And the higher the level and the more competitive we are, the more this is reflected in the competition. This is a club that has a good base and we are doing well.”
Absence of Yeremy Pino due to suspension
“It forces us to optimise our attacking resources. We are getting people back in defence after having been stretched before, and now we are very stretched in attack. This is a series of spells, we hope that Nicolas Pepe is progressing well, we’ll get Yeremy back and Ayoze’s time is also near.”
The aim of European football
“I am optimistic about the remaining games. I’m happy with the attitude and the ability of the players. They have ambition and enthusiasm, we have arguments to compete in every game. We have to improve one facet of the game, the goals conceded. We can’t be the second most punished team to play for high goals and strengthen our offensive aspect. We need to make corrections and be lucky with injuries.”
