Emery underlined that Villarreal will need to be very competitive to get a good result at Old Trafford
Villarreal CF head coach Unai Emery appeared in front of the media, alongside goalkeeper Gero Rulli, to analyse the build-up to the UEFA Champions League match against Manchester United, which will take place this Wednesday, at 9pm CEST, at Old Trafford.
The Basque manager hailed the opposition, who the Yellows faced last year in the UEFA Europa League final: “Manchester United are one of the biggest clubs in the world. They’re the favourites for the group. For us, playing at Old Trafford is an honour. We want to enjoy the match and compete well. We will try and fight to have chances to beat them. They’re a team who have strengthened well. They were already very good when we faced them, and now they’re even better.”
The English side lost on Matchday 1 to Young Boys, a result which Emery believes makes them an even more dangerous team to face: “It will be an exciting match, where we will need to compete at our very best if we want to get a positive result. They will want to win because they lost the first game. They’ve got a great squad, and they’re much improved since May. We have a lot of respect for our opposition, but we also believe in how we play. They are the favourites, but we don’t like to conform.”
As Emery says, to get a positive result, Villarreal will need to be competitive, and know how to minimise the talents of the opposition, while showing character: “They’re playing at home in front of their fans, who push them on a lot. We need to show our personality and play the game we want to play. We know that we will be pushed back for moments of the game. We need to adapt to that, to be solid, to help each other out, to be strong mentally, and from there, play how we want to, be capable of overcoming their press and find space. To sum up, we need to put in a complete performance in defence and in attack.”
