Marcelino insisted Villarreal’s Europa League last-16 tie with Bayer Leverkusen was not over, despite Thursday’s 2-0 win in the first leg.
Cedric Bakambu’s brace and no Leverkusen away goal ensured Villarreal travelled to BayArena with a considerable advantage, but the Coach warned his side against treating their place in the quarter-finals as a given.
“I’m happy and very satisfied with both the work and result of my players,” he said after the game.
“The team played a great game in all aspects. Scoring the [first] goal so soon made things easier.
“The result is good, and so are the sensations, but tie isn’t closed completely.
“We’ll have to go to their place. They’re a good team with good attacking potential.
“We always try to study our opponents and counter [their strengths].
“What happens is that sometimes you’re luckier than your opponents, and this time we were.
“Still, this team deserve a lot of credit, are doing very well and I appreciate very much what we’ve done so far.
“The team are working very well defensively, and I’m pleased the team are looking very secure and very strong in that respect.
“[On Bakambu’s brace], it’s important for strikers to score goals, and it’s no different for Cedric.
“Still, what mattered most was that we had chances and we knew we could score from them.”