Marcelino: «We knew how to recover and take the derby» | OneFootball

The Asturian coach highlighted his players’ reaction in a demanding clash against Valencia CF

Villarreal CF head coach Marcelino García Toral spoke to the media after the 2-1 win against Valencia to analyse the valuable victory in the regional derby held at the Estadio de la Cerámica.

“It was a very tense and intense match — everything a derby should be. We played a very good first half in which a moment of indecision led to a penalty, but we knew how to react and turn the match around before the break. It has great merit and I congratulate my players for it,” the Asturian coach began.

With this victory, Villarreal close out a week with two triumphs in regional derbies: “We’ve taken six points this week. We played midweek and many players repeated, especially in attack, so the effort was noticeable in the second half, where we defended what we had earned in the first. We expected a very tough match and we handled it well.”

Regarding the team’s objective, Marcelino was ambitious, expressing optimism and a desire to fight for third place: “We can’t settle for being fourth. Right now, we are third. We want to fight for that third spot. We have 51 points at this stage. The team’s performance is extraordinary, especially while playing in the Champions League, with all the physical demands that come with it. We want to qualify for the Champions League again next year.”

“We won’t settle. We can’t look down. We are ambitious and optimistic. We’ve earned six points this week. Despite key injuries, we have to keep going. We must look to the future with ambition and optimism. We want to fight to be third. We have 51 points. The squad’s performance is wonderful, even more so while playing in the Champions League and managing that extra workload.”

Below, you can watch Marcelino García Toral’s full press conference after the match against Valencia CF: