Villarreal boss Marcelino believed his team were full value for their 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Carlo Ancelotti’s men saw their lead at the top of La Liga cut to just two points after Gerard Moreno equalised Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty seven minutes after the re-start, a scoreline Marcelino felt was justified.
“At the very least it was a fair result but if we had won the game it also wouldn’t have been bad,” he told a post-match Press conference.
“We earned it and were very committed defensively, while in the second half we had more possession. We also had a goalkeeper who was on top form, as was Iker Casillas, and the reserves that came on and off did very well.”
Marcelino made several changes to his starting line-up ahead of the Copa del Rey semi-final against Barcelona and is looking forward to facing the Catalans.
“We can create problems for them and I hope our play, luck and skill allows us to reach the final. But, like today, we will be up against one of the best teams in the world.
“However, every game is different and we are playing at home. We’ll need to defend well and attack well, but these players deserve it. I’m proud of them and we’ll give our all. Then we’ll see if the ball wants to go in.
“Our squad has a lot of players with fewer than 100 games in La Primera but gaining experience heightens our competitiveness.
“I’m really happy for them and the key to our success is that we are all pulling in the same direction,” he maintained.
