MADRID, 21 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Villarreal’s coach, Unai Emery, regretted not having been able to dedicate the victory to José Manuel Llaneza, who died this Thursday, and confirmed that “everyone was very affected” on a day that, in sports, left the yellow team defeated (3 -0) at the Camp Nou.
“It was a difficult day, we were all very attached to him, knowing the difficult times he was going through, we didn’t expect the news either, we were all very affected. Then on the pitch we had the motivation to dedicate it to him but it couldn’t be,” he said in press conference after the match.
“José Manuel was the architect of the growth of Villarreal together with the Roig family and if anyone carries the Villarreal shield it was him. We have been through the good and bad times of his illness and today we did not expect the news. He leaves many friends in the environment of football,” he added.
On the lofty defeat, Emery highlighted the superiority of FC Barcelona throughout the match. “They have been better than us, beyond tactical issues, what we proposed has not come out. They have been better and the result is based on that,” said coach Groguet.
Asked about his team’s performance, he pointed out that Villarreal’s purpose was “to play a more complete game”, but he acknowledged that they were unable to do so. “The game, beyond the fact that they deserved to win, was a tough day, and on the pitch as well, our options were to play a more complete game and deactivate the opposing team and we couldn’t”, he confirmed.
“We have planned the game with the same people as on Monday, we have only changed Kiko for Mandi, the idea was to play a good game and in the end we were not able to do it,” he said.
“They score three goals in ten minutes and when they score the first one you have to keep in mind that few things have to happen in the following minutes. The push of the public and the motivation of the first goal makes them go one step further. We have also had mistakes that have caused that, if you don’t do it right and they can, it can happen,” he said.