Marcelino says his team approaches the tough match against Real Madrid with enthusiasm (Saturday, 9pm CEST)
Villarreal CF coach Marcelino García Toral spoke to the media on Friday to analyse the preview of the match against Real Madrid, corresponding to Matchday 8 of the 2025/26 LALIGA EA Sports, which will be played this Saturday at 9pm CEST at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
“We go into the match with the desire to win. Real Madrid are a great opponent, contenders for everything. They come off a painful defeat that makes them even more dangerous. We are playing at their stadium and expect a very tough match, but we are excited. We have competed well against top teams, and I don’t think tomorrow will be an exception,” the Yellow coach said about the match against Los Blancos.
Marcelino also highlighted the difficulty of the game and emphasised the need to perform perfectly to secure a win at the Bernabéu: “The key is to minimise mistakes and defend well both collectively and individually. We have to be united, bold, and show personality on the ball. We need to be clinical and make sure the opponent isn’t. To beat Madrid, you have to play a perfect game in both areas. That doesn’t happen every day. We have to try, and that’s the mindset we go in with.”
Regarding player workload, the coach focused on the evolution of his squad in the coming hours: “We’ll have to see. It’s still early, as we’re only on day 2. For now, our perception is that we’ve recovered well, but monitoring how we evolve is crucial. We put in a huge effort against Juventus. It was the most physically demanding match of the season. Now we need to recover both legs and minds. We want to maintain a positive mentality because it will help us compete, but we will make changes, for sure.”
Finally, Marcelino expressed his happiness at equalling Manuel Pellegrini as the coach with the most matches in Villarreal’s history: “It makes me very happy. It’s a great satisfaction and shows that we feel comfortable and that the board is also pleased with us. I want to thank the president and Fernando for their trust, as well as everyone who has helped us feel so at home at this club, both in my first and second spells.”
