The Villarreal head coach expressed his pride in his players after the win over Real Betis
Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral has praised his team’s performance against Real Betis at the Benito Villamarín stadium. A direct clash for Europe was won by the Submarine thanks to goals from Barry and Ayoze. Spectacular.
Overcoming the blows
“To problems, solutions. And that’s what the players have given us. We were able to recover very well from the goal because we came out expecting it and they scored with the first shot on goal. We got up and there were alternatives, we defended very well throughout the game. We scored our first goal and it was a great goal too. We defended very well in our own area. Except for Isco’s chance, they had no chances. It’s not a definitive result, but whoever wins comes out stronger.”
Group performance
‘”The team’s good performance is everything. We know how to defend, attack, counter-attack… If we repeated the defensive numbers of the first half of the season we weren’t going to make it to Europe. We have improved and we are more reliable. If you don’t need so many goals to win, you win more often. Teams become strong and powerful when they have to suffer and win.”
Fighting for Europe
“I always want to play in Europe. Our experience is that teams grow by playing in Europe. They keep the players happy because they train less and play more. The Champions League takes a lot of rest for teams that don’t play a lot and the Europa League and the Conference have the difficulty that you play on Thursdays and Sundays. We want to play three games a week. Here Madrid lost, Barça drew. If we think we are going to play in Europe, we will be wrong, I hope to convince the players.”
Ayoze’s performance
“He put in an extraordinary performance. He is mature, with a lot of experience. Perhaps in the first meeting between the first time, as it was the first time – it happened to me too – there is something that diminishes you, but the second is different. He came here, but he played a great game. He helped us win like the rest of his team-mates.”
Pride as the head coach
“I’m proud of my players. We turned a difficult situation around. The real protagonist is the player and the coaching staff have to improve the performance of each of them and the collective. And for that they have to want to. Last year we had a team that wanted to and this year too.”
