Villarreal do not want to assume Manchester United are in bad shape ahead of the Champions League duel on Tuesday (23/11).
Man Utd came to Villarreal headquarters with three defeats in their last five matches in all competitions. Man Utd lost to Liverpool with a score of 0-5, Manchester City (0-2), and finally Watford (1-4).
The recent defeat to Watford made Ole Gunnar Solskjaer choose to leave, the current coaching position is temporarily held by Michael Carrick.
Villarreal coach Unai Emery seems to ignore this and still considers Man Utd as a dangerous team at the moment. Emery actually thinks that all the difficulties faced by Man Utd can make them more motivated.
“Defending well is a crucial factor as is coming out as a unit and being able to win individual duels.”
“We also have to show our character and look lethal. We feel we will face the best performance from Manchester United because of the character of their players and the moment that accompanied them into this match,” said Emery as quoted from the official Champions League website.
Emery believes the duel against Man Utd is the best test to prove the quality of Villarreal.
“They are the best opponent to see what we are capable of as a team,” said Emery.
Villarreal star Dani Parejo also hopes the support of Villarreal fans can help them beat Man Utd.
“This is a very important game for us. For the fans who came to the stadium, we are grateful because we can get stronger by seeing the stadium filled up.”
“We will try and get the three points to make the fans see a great game that is not seen every day,” said Parejo.
The Red Devils will come to Villarreal’s headquarters with the certainty of not being able to play a number of star players.
The three star players who cannot be played in this match, quoted from the official Champions League website, are Mason Greenwood, Paul Pogba, and Raphael Varane. Greenwood is still sick while Pogba and Varane are injured.
In addition to these three players, the conditions of Edinson Cavani and Luke Shaw are also still doubtful to appear in this match.
In the Villarreal camp, there are no players who really can’t appear. However, a number of players are also in the doubtful category to appear.
Villarreal players who are doubtful include Paco Alcacer, Sergio Asenjo, Gerard Moreno, Etienne Capoue and Arnaut Danjuma.
Manchester United currently leads the standings with seven points, as does Villarreal. Villarreal will try to maximize their home games to win the top spot in Group F of the Champions League.
The competition in Group F of the Champions League is quite hot. Atalanta who have five points and Young Boys who have three points will also try to take advantage of the Man Utd vs Villarreal clash to move closer to the top two positions in the group.
