Gerard Moreno underlines team’s UEFA Europa League hopes
Gerard Moreno appeared in the press room at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on Wednesday, accompanied by Marcelino García Toral, to analyse the first leg of the UEFA Europa League round of 16, which pits the Submarine against Olympique de Marseille tomorrow.
The Yellows No.7, named best player of the competition in the 2020/21 edition, highlighted the excitement with which Villarreal are approaching this tournament: “It’s a competition that we all like, that historically we’ve been good at. We face it with a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of desire. We have a tough opponent, but we’re looking forward to playing a great game tomorrow. We want to play a good game because we’re looking forward to doing important things in Europe.”
In the same vein, the club’s all-time top scorer points out that the team faces the challenge of competing to reach high levels in Europe: “The Europa League is a very important challenge, a very nice challenge. We are looking forward to continuing on our path and doing something important. It’s a beautiful competition, with nice matches against powerful and powerful opponents, as we are. We are 100% focused on getting as far as possible. I insist that the whole team is focused on this great challenge we have in Europe.”
As for the analysis of the rival, Gerard praised OM’s footballing level: “They are a great club and they have a great team. Their squad is very complete, with great players, and they also have a great stadium with a very tight crowd. The coach knows them and we have prepared the match thoroughly. Olympique de Marseille have improved in recent weeks, as have we, who are on a good run of form. We have worked on the match and we know how to compete against them and what weapons we can use to hurt them. It will be a very competitive and complicated game, we are sure.”
Finally, the Catalan striker was cautious and warned that, regardless of this week’s result, there will still be the return leg at La Cerámica: “This game is not definitive. It’s a 180-minute tie, we have to know how to play two legs. The aim is to continue with the good dynamic we’ve had and with the line of play of the last few games. I don’t think it’s the most important match of the season so far, because there was another kind of match against Rennes. But it will be a very complicated tie and it won’t be decided until the end of the 180 minutes, as I think it will be very close.”
