Unai Emery thanked the fans for their support and assured that the team will try to reach the semi-finals
Villarreal coach Unai Emery appeared at a press conference after a historic and well-deserved victory over FC Bayern (1-0). The Basque coach highlighted the team’s great performance against one of the favourites in the top European competition and the support of the fans to gain a valuable advantage ahead of the second leg. These are the most important statements from the Submarine’s coach:
Team and fans
“When we came on the bus and saw the excitement of the fans, we felt the responsibility to make them experience a special moment with us. Football is a feeling, beyond professionalism, and making so many people happy is wonderful. Before the game I thought about whether we could make them proud.”
Taking a step forward
“We’ve been on a trajectory since last season of where we want to be and for it to not be something purely anecdotal. That competitive part is being picked up by the team. We are having a very nice journey and, at the same time, very demanding, but that gives us a lot of satisfaction and recognition for everyone. The team’s response is that we are here to compete and try to reach the semi-finals against one of the favourites. We are not just going to sit back and celebrate what we have achieved, we have to be demanding.”
Demanding in the second leg
“We know that Bayern are a very good team and we will try to use our best resources to make the game shine and be protagonists as a team. This kind of game you can win or you can lose. They were at a good level and we worked hard to stop them from scoring.”
A match to gain experience
“We introduced Lo Celso inside and left Gerard up front and it worked out well because we have great players. Coquelin has not been able to have continuity this season, but he is a player of a high level. Players like Yeremy or Chukwueze need to gain experience to grow, it’s an advantage that Coquelin or Lo Celso can have. It was a game for people with presence and the players and the team showed it.”
You can watch the full press conference by clicking on the image in the news item.
