Balance: “We have had a great career in the Champions League, the greatest joys… In the League we translated against Real what it has been all season: starting badly, rebuilding ourselves and running out of steam. Today we had the last bullet left to enter Europe. The team has known how, trying to get away from the last game. This team has been, at a competitive level, in complicated fields and getting the victory. We have had a lot of professionalism and we have found the result”
The cheapest Barça to win: “In terms of motivation, they played at the Camp Nou, they wanted to play a good individual game… They started well but we played a very serious game on a defensive level. We had to find our moment and be successful. met Pedraza and that has strengthened us. The second goal has left them where they didn’t clearly know where the game was. And we had it very clear. Barcelona is undergoing a small reconstruction but today their eleven was very recognizable”.
Numerical note to Villarreal: “An 8.5, I’m picky.”
Where do you think Villarreal has lacked something this year?: “La Liga is the one that marks the most objective position in the end. We have an internal analysis of where we have been able to fail. In some moments we have not found continuous performance. Being competitive at beastly levels in the Champions League is very recognizable. That energy that we spent took its toll on us in the League. The League gives you the final prize unless you win the Europa League, like we did last year. It’s very justified. I’m happy because I’ve spent a week on the contrary”.
Conference League: “A European tournament. That is something that, at the level of feeling, the fact of being able to lose it would have affected me since I had been playing in Europe for 14 years. Europe gives you another dimension. The Conference still hasn’t found its value, but this Feyenoord and Rome are going to play a final this year and we will see it. Villarreal started playing the Intertoto, I am especially happy with the season. And when it has rained, I wait for the sun to come out again”.
Mbappe’s decision: “It’s very personal. I have a lot of appreciation for the kid but he has arrived too late. The times have not been right for football”.
good defensively: “We have to close the connection routes to Barcelona. We wanted to close them inside and out, contain them and have people to defend the area. In these games, defense is very important. We have had games against lower teams that have not had this level defensive”.
Xavi’s words saying that Villarreal was one of those who made it difficult for him the most: “In football, the competitive level is very demanding. We coaches try to find synergies of praise but then we are very competitive. Xavi is a coach, he has a long history and this is his home. In Vila-real we played a game that the result was 1-3. We did a lot of things wrong. Then that play that stayed with me for three months (Pique’s hands). Then I asked the person in charge and he told me “I was wrong”. I was calmer”.