Villarreal coach Unai Emery pointed out at the press conference prior to the Europa League game that they play against Maccabi this Thursday at La Cerámica, that this match is “key” for the goal of finishing first in the group.
“The goal is to be first, but they have also won both games and will come very motivated, so the game will be difficult. Winning and scoring 9 points will give us more peace of mind to play away, so we must be strong and rigorous to be able to beat them. We must align the best team, in addition to being able to have good options on the bench to overcome any situation, “he explained.
Regarding his rival tomorrow, Thursday, the Basque coach explained that “we have respect for them, Villarreal could not beat them in their previous confrontation, and they have also started with two victories like us. This is a very important game for both of us, since being first or second is very important, so both teams are going to go out to be winners. “
“They like to play football, they usually play with three centrals and two Spaniards like Saborit and Hernández play; they also have Peretz, who is a player we have followed a lot and has a lot of quality. To which they also add that they have good bands and dangerous forwards. We will have to take the ball from them and be able to recover it quickly after loss, we must play a complete game, “he added.
The coach pointed out that they also have to face the challenge of doing rotations in this competition given the tight schedule they face. “The challenge of incorporating new players, young people like Baena, Kubo or the emergence of Yeremy, who may have more minutes. These are challenges that I want to face in this competition,” he admitted.
“Playing every three days there is a difference in this third game, since the difference in days and rest is minimal, so it is difficult to have everyone well. Although this is a very important game for the final goal, so “We want to get the best team and also not assume risk of injury. That is why we must analyze well what we do, we must assess everything and make the correct decisions to choose the best team and that affects as little as possible,” he analyzed.
Emery stressed that they are going to see if it is possible that Dani Parejo can already enter this call and that they will assess whether the Ecuadorian international Pervis Estupiñán can play at the start, after having played a few minutes in the last match, and give Alfonso Pedraza rest ” that he is one of those who has been in a lot of games and has muscle discomfort, so we must be careful with him. We will see how he will be tomorrow and if we take risks.
Finally he referred to the weather, since it could rain heavily at the time of the game. “I tend to be aware of what awaits us or can wait, they give rain, so we will see what can alter us. Since sometimes the rain can be something that can alter things. We will be waiting to see how things evolve” , ended.