Champions League group matches ended and with the last game between Villarreal and Atalanta, the Yellow Submarines were the last team to register their name in the knockout stage. Villarreal coach Unai Emery is proud to have guided the club into the Champions League round of 16.
Villarreal enlisted their place in the knockouts following a 3-2 (match result) victory over Atalanta. Doubles from Arnaut Danjuma and a single kick from Etienne Capoue helped the team to make their mark. Unai Emery’s men didn’t allow their opponents to advance them and maintained their lead until the final whistle of the football match.
Unai Emery enthused: “It’s the third time that Villarreal have reached the Champions League last 16 and I think it’s something to be proud of on a professional level because of what we represent. Seeing both Fernando Roigs, father and sun, and Llaneza too, all of them so happy, shows the satisfaction after the wait. We’re a consistent team in Europe and we’re going head-to-head with the best. For us, it was a challenge to see how far we could go. We’re finding consistency and credibility which we need to show in LaLiga too.”
Emery also welcomed striker Gerard Moreno back on the night. “The presence of certain players gives us security. Different players give us different things. Gerard can receive the ball deep, while Danjuma can receive it long. It’s true that when Gerard wasn’t fit, we lacked a few things. Today he played well, and in fact, the whole team was great collectively.”
