Pau and Albiol warn Europe

Villarreal behaves in the face of the pandemic, in this third wave, like any of us. After a few first months of the season maintaining a restorative routine at home, he begins to overwhelm himself in a bad way without going out and expanding (eight games without winning in LaLiga), so it is with his extramural dances on Thursdays in Europe where he really is again happy. This time, in the first and longed-for contact with people (30% of the capacity in Kiev) he showed his most balanced gesture, the reliability that made him fearful in the past and a joy in his game, one or two touches (except the Roadrunner de Pedraza), which allows him to be in advantage against a rebounded rival in the Champions League who, in addition, dominates with an iron fist in Ukraine. The goals of two centrals, Pau Torres (30 ') and Albiol (52'), in two other divine appearances by Gerard in the area, are worth gold in this prestigious victory and they show that the order of the factors does not alter the product: if it is always said that “the best defense is a good attack”, in this tie it is also worth saying that “the best attack is a good defense”.

The Submarine, far from facing the first leg thinking about the return, showed its same daring drawing since Emery took the helm. Chukwueze sat Moi and the other ten were the same as usual, with confidence in mind and tiredness in legs. Faith in the pillars, despite the slump in results, worked. Trigueros was able to overtake his team in the 4th minute with a precise corner strategy. But the first goal came in the continuation of another corner kick, in which Gerard gave Pau a gift that is not forgotten. It was an award to Villarreal for his commitment and courage. The worst, again, were the isolated mistakes in the exit of the ball. They stirred up a Dinamo at times that never found positive feelings in the first half and that only had Rodrigues as a real danger.

Dinamo tried after the break to apply higher pressure, treat the ball with more care and run from time to time behind Foyth, Funes Mori (substitute for the injured Pau) and company. He could not find the way, so Lucescu, the legendary 75-year-old coach who has silenced criticism from his own fans for his past at Shakhtar, fumed. Emery, an old colleague of his, won the game on the board, in the game studio, in the staging and in his corrections in the second half. Albiol's aim, by taking advantage of a rebound after another well-executed foul, brought a necessary calm in a Villarreal that of the last 11 meetings has only won three, all of them with the international passport in their mouths. Emery's team, that withered and burdened LaLiga team, walks firmly in the Europa League. If with 0-2 in Spain he had backed down, in this competition he only knows how to go to the front and was close to finding the sentence in several threats from Trigueros, one of the good guys. After being dropped in the semifinals in other editions, in Kiev he confirmed the illusion that this could be his year. With Gerard as standard bearer, the dream is more possible than ever.