Marcelino: “It’s putting the professional prestige of all of us and the image of the club at risk”

Villarreal’s manager is Marcelino Garcia Toralsaid in a press conference on Monday that for the team, which has already been eliminated from the Champions League, it would be “a small relief” for the team to win against Ajax in their first game of the competition this Tuesday and be able to celebrate with their fans.

“The Champions League we wanted didn’t happen.” Expectations were not met eitherbut we are in the mood to win tomorrow,” admitted the Asturias coach, who hoped to experience “everything the opposite” of the game against Copenhagen in Villarreal’s farewell as the home team of the competition.

“The field was half empty, it was an anthem for the Europa League and a game in which we could improve a lot,” Marcelino said, stressing that Villarreal were putting at risk “the professional prestige of all of us and the image of the club that we love and protect”, despite having already been defeated.

The manager made it clear that the Champions League is a competition that all professionals want to play in and said he hopes this year’s disappointments will be over. “It was a good experience for the future.” This tournament is for teams that don’t play many games.”

While Marcelino made it clear that he and his team are focused on the sport, he did not hide the financial value that two wins in two days would mean for the club. “It is clear that repeated appearances in the Champions League will lead to a higher level of competition,” the manager said, predicting that Ajax, who still have the option of qualifying, will “enter into a cheerful and courageous attack”. “The numbers show that they are an agile team in the game and are better in attack than they are defensively. The team that defends best wins the game.” analyzed the Asturias national team coach.

Marcelino confirmed the absence of African Cup finalists Pape Gueye and Ilias Ahomak, praising their performances in the tournament, and also confirmed Alfonso Pedraza, who has a broken nose and will not need surgery for the time being, is a doubt.

The coach is confident that the recent defeat against Betis will not affect the team “because it is a different competition” and announced his future actions. Lineup changewhich I always do when I play two games a week.

Finally, the Asturian player described the possibility of playing in a Champions League game again as a “gift”. “Playing it means being the champion of the other league, because recent years have shown that three qualifications are given, which has a lot of benefits. There are quite a few teams in this league that want to play.” he said.