A heavy punishment. Villarreal lost 3-0 to Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium in a match that just got worse and worse. In spite of the defeat the Yellows still sit in fourth place in the table, six points above Athletic and Celta, who are their closest followers, with only four matches (12 points) to go until the end of the league.
In their third match in only seven days, Marcelino changed the starting line-up considerably with respect to the starting eleven against Rayo Vallecano, making five changes. The Submarine defended in a well-organized manner in the first half. The White forwards couldn’t find an opening to create any goal scoring opportunities, while the Yellows were waiting and ready to exploit them on the counter attack.
Villarreal kept trying to score and kept going until the referee blew the final whistle. The Submarine are already thinking about their next match against Real Sociedad at El Madrigal (Sunday, 8:30pm CET).
Villarreal CF manager, Marcelino García Toral, wasn’t happy about his team’s defeat, but he was optimistic about the four games left to play in the league: “The matches are coming and going and we’re six points above those chasing us, who actually play against each other soon. It depends on us now and we have to take it step by step. On Sunday we play a final against Real Sociedad, as if we win our two remaining home matches I think we can do it. We’ll be playing at our ground and we need the fans. The players are coming off a thrashing and will need that lift from the supporters”.