Unai Emery has stressed the importance of this weekend’s clash against Real Betis in the fight to qualify for the Europa League
Villarreal head coach Unai Emery appeared remotely before the press to preview this weekend’s LaLiga match-up with Real Betis at the Estado de la Cerámica (Sunday, 9pm CET)
Getting the feel-good factor back by returning to winning ways
“The game is very important for us, to get the good feeling back throughout the club after a long time without winning, and to ease players back into action. We’re looking to find a competitive eleven who are able to respond to the highest demands.”
An in-form Real Betis
“We’re up against an opponent who are on a great run of form, picking up some great results and who are high on confidence. They’re within six points of us and they want to challenge us for these European places.”
A threatening opponent
“Real Betis are a team with so many options. They have few weaknesses and fantastic players. Sergio Canales is a very important creative player, and they have players who make the difference further forward, like Aitor Ruibal and Diego Lainez. When he’s on form, Nabil Fekir is an incredible player, who can decide games on his own. Out wide, they also have great players. As a team, they can threaten from all over the pitch.
The progress of injured players
“We’ve had a week of training in which a number of players have progressed well in terms of their injuries. Rubén Peña and Étienne Capoue are part of this group, but they are doubts ahead of this Sunday as they only trained on Friday this week”.
A vital match in the fight for Europa League qualification
“They are going to make it very difficult for us. We are going to try to impose our style of play on the game with our qualities. It’s a very important game in the fight for the European places”.
Europa League qualification as the priority
“Our hope was to aspire to fight for the Champions League places. Without losing, we’ve put together too many draws, and need victories now. We are still in with a shout, but it will be difficult to reach the top four. Our main aim is to be in European competition; it’s the objective of the club and we will work hard to achieve it”.
