Calleja and Andrés underline the hunger the Yellows will have when they face Spartak Moscow
The Yellow Submarine accept the challenge. Villarreal manager Javi Calleja, and goalkeeper Andrés Fernández, have expressed optimism and highlighted the hunger in the team ahead of the match against Spartak Moscow (Thursday, 9pm CEST, Spartak Stadium, live on Movistar+ in Spain), the second opponent for the Yellows in the UEFA Europa League group stage. “At the moment, we only want to be thinking about the Europa League. We have an exciting and important challenge ahead of us and we want to win. We’ve come here focused on that, but without hard work that won’t happen,” explained the head coach.
For the Villarreal boss, the start of the match will be fundamental: “The beginning will be key. They will start the game with a lot of intensity, and will be looking for an early goal. We need to be mentally prepared, concentrated, and try and surprise them and be the first to create danger and score.”
Although the statistics do not have a particularly good omen for the Yellow Submarine in Russia, Calleja does not believe they are important: “It’s complicated, but we’re here to prove the statistics wrong. We want to put an end to those negative results. We’ve come here to play well and take the win back to Spain. Statistics are only that, statistics. We want to end that run and get a victory.”
Andrés Fernández: “We are hungry to play in Europe”
Goalkeeper Andrés Fernández also took part in the press conference, and underlined the Yellows’ hunger, and said they need to make sure they stay focused at all times: “We’re hungry to compete and show that this team wants to do things well. Spartak losing their first matchday doesn’t mean anything. At home, they’re a strong team and they will have great support from the stands. We know that they’ll give everything from the first minute.”
