Marcelino has underlined the need to concede fewer goals and reverse the current situation (Wednesday, 9:30pm CET)

Marcelino García Toral, Villarreal head coach, appeared before the media on Tuesday to analyse the match against Rayo Vallecano, corresponding to Matchday 12 of the 2024/25 LALIGA EA Sports season (rescheduled due to the flooding in Valencia), which will be played this Wednesday at 9:30pm CET at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

“We must be aware that we are making mistakes. There wasn’t a lot to the game against Betis either. Our opponents were very effective and we should have scored more goals, but we didn’t score them. Our opponents are really making us pay. We’ve let in too many goals at our stadium,” analysed Marcelino with regard to last weekend’s game.

In the same vein, the coach from Asturias said that the team must improve their morale after three consecutive defeats: “We must change the mood. It’s the first negative dynamic we’ve experienced and we need to reactivate ourselves. We are not being accurate in the penalty area and we have to work to be. The attitude is the right one and we have the capacity to do it.”

Despite going through a small slump, Marcelino has normalised the situation, aware of the difficulty of fighting for Europe in LALIGA: “We knew that for a club like us to fight for the Champions League was not going to be easy. We came from very good months and now we’re a bit worse. That doesn’t stop us thinking that we can’t play in Europe next season, nor did we think before that we were going to do it easily.”

Similarly, the head coach stressed that the team remains optimistic and hopeful, despite the losses and the results: “We still are optimistic. We know that we are in a complicated moment and we need the help of the fans. The end of the LALIGA season puts you where you deserve to be. I’m sure that, despite everything, we will compete and fight for the victory. This is about adding up and adding up. Now we have Rayo coming up, after Leganés, we’ll rest and then we’ll go and play Real Sociedad.”

Finally, Marcelino appealed to the fans to come and support the Submarine: “It’s a difficult kick-off time. We know that. Hopefully the stadium will be as full as possible so that they can help us win the game. Together, we need to get three points and change the negative dynamic of our results.”