The Yellow Submarine coach praised the outstanding first half of the season delivered by his players after the win over Alavés (3–1)

Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral spoke to the media after his team’s impressive victory over Deportivo Alavés (3–1) in the match played at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

In his press conference, he praised his players for the excellent work done both against Alavés and throughout the entire first half of the season: “I want to share this beautiful and important achievement with the players, the club and the fans. The number of points we’ve earned so far this season has great merit. But it’s not just about the points, it’s also about the goal difference. I must congratulate all the players and everyone who is part of the team.”

Despite being very satisfied with the win against the Babazorros, Marcelino pointed out that the path forward lies in playing like they did in the second half: “We weren’t ourselves in the first half. We lacked continuity and lost the ball too often. We became uncomfortable and they grew more confident. Those were 45 minutes in which we weren’t at our best. Then, in the second half, we found our game and scored three fantastic goals. It was very good. Scoring early gave us confidence, we were able to get the second goal, which weakened Alavés and enhanced our football.”

Finally, the head coach admitted that he would like to finish the first half of the season with 44 points: “We couldn’t play the match against Levante. When the date is confirmed, we’ll approach it with the ambition of trying to win and earning three more points to put the finishing touch on this extraordinary first half of the season.”