The manager and Bruno Soriano expect maximum support from the fans against Leverkusen
A game of two giants. Today the Villarreal CF manager, Marcelino García Toral, and the Submarine captain, Bruno Soriano, emphasized the importance of getting a positive result in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League Round of 16 tie against Bayer 04 Leverkusen (Thursday, 9:05pm CET) to serve them going into the second leg, that will be played next Thursday 17th March in the BayArena.
Marcelino said it will be key to not concede in El Madrigal: “The first leg is really important, it doesn’t define the tie, but it can put you on the right track. We want to win and if we can do that without letting in any goals even better. It won’t be easy going up against such a great team, but we’re playing well and we’re really excited. We’ll go into the game with maximum enthusiasm and with the only objective being the win.
The manager expects an exciting game against the German side: “It’s going to be a game without respite, similar to the one we played last year against Salzburg. It will be quick and intense because they pressure every ball and get forward in numbers. The way they play makes us have to be intelligent, both defensively and offensively”.
To finish, Marcelino wanted to send a message to the Yellows fans, provided that it fills up on Thursday. “I hope El Madrigal will cheer on their players. I hope it gets full because this type of tie deserves that. A footballer should feel their fans are with them from the first minute. The players have earned a lot of credit already”.
Bruno: “For a game as important as this one we need our fans”
On the other hand, captain Bruno Soriano also appealed to the Yellows fans: “For a game as important as this one we need our fans. I hope they cheer us on from the first minute. They’ve always done it and I’m sure they know how important it is for this match”.
The Submarine’s number 21 showed his excitement for the tie against Bayer 04 Leverkusen: “For us it’s really exciting, both for the club and the players. We expect the opposition to be tough and we have to give our all to get a good result and in the second leg be as solid as we were in Napoli”.
To conclude the centre midfielder dismissed talk of being the favourites: “I don’t feel we’re the favourites in the competition. It was worthy to beat Napoli, but we don’t think we’re better than anybody. We know how good Leverkusen are as not long ago they were playing in the Champions League”.
