The Yellows’ head coach underlined the team for the team to be at its best against Real Madrid (Saturday, 9pm CEST)
Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral has appeared this Friday in front of the media to analyse the upcoming match against Real Madrid this Saturday at 9pm CEST at the Santiago Bernabéu.
In his first comments, the Yellows’ head coach stressed that the Groguets are approaching the game with the utmost ambition, but with a lot of respect for their opponents: “We are very excited. We are very excited. We are playing against a team that won almost everything last year. They had gone 37 games without defeat until this week. They haven’t lost at the Bernabéu since 2023, when Villarreal won there. We know it’s going to be difficult, but that doesn’t detract from our ambition and enthusiasm. We have to be at our best in all facets of the game.”
In terms of absentees, Marcelino acknowledged the addition of Denis Suárez to the already confirmed absentees: “The players fit are the same. We didn’t manage to get Ayoze or the long-term injured players back.”
Despite the absentees, the coach prefers not to hide behind that and face the game with confidence: “It can’t be used as an excuse. We are thinking about the players we have available. We have a squad in which we have full confidence and we must be able to make up for absences, even if they are important ones like that of Ayoze.”
Although they arrive at the game separated by just one point, for Marcelino, Real Madrid and Villarreal face very different realities at this stage of the competition: “We are not direct rivals. Madrid are one of the best teams in the world and at Villarreal we don’t compete with the same weapons. It’s true that we’ve performed at a high level and we’re excited, but it will be difficult.”
Marcelino is therefore opting to make minimal changes for the game against Real Madrid: “When things are going well, the coaches don’t change too much. We try to take into account the situation, take advantage of the strengths that the players offer us, but without overexerting ourselves physically and mentally. But we’re not going to vary much.”
The coach was also proud of the almost 1,000 Yellows fans who will be cheering on the Submarine at the Santiago Bernabeu: “It’s a source of satisfaction for us and a good sign that we can achieve great things. We’re very grateful that the fans are so enthusiastic.”
Finally, Marcelino denied that Real Madrid are on a bad run of form after losing just one game: “I don’t get the feeling that Real Madrid are in a bad moment, far from it. There are many statistics that speak precisely the opposite.”
