Villarreal striker Gerard Moreno gloried in Villarreal’s victory over Juventus on Wednesday night as the Yellow Submarine took a significant scalp in Turin.
Unai Emery’s side conceded 31 seconds into the tie in the first leg, but wouldn’t do so for the rest of the two legs. Having maintained their clean sheet, they managed to score three times in the final 15 minutes in Turin to win 4-1 on aggregate.
The first of those came from Gerard Moreno, who came on and scored from the penalty spot after Francis Coquelin was fouled by Daniele Rugani. Pau Torres and then Arnaut Danjuma would finish the game off in the closing stages.
“We knew we could do it against a great club and in one of the most beautiful stadiums in the world. We knew it was going to be a tight game. But when we score, we feel more comfortable.”
“It’s a magical night. I’m happy for the fans, for the President, for Llaneza… It’s all happiness.”
Former Villarreal Vice-president Jose Manuel Llaneza stepped down from his post earlier in the season after he revealed he was suffering from leukemia.
It wasn’t all straight-forward, but Moreno was happy with what Villarreal were able to do without the ball in his comments to Diario AS.
“We came to the home of Juventus, the biggest team in Italy. It was normal to suffer. The defensive work was incredible and worth applauding. We’re happy because we want to keep going in this competition.”
Following Atletico Madrid’s victory over Manchester United and Real Madrid’s comeback against PSG, Villarreal made it three Spanish teams in the quarter-finals.
“Our league is up there. We continue to be one of the strongest leagues, along with the Premier League. To get three teams into the quarter-finals is a something to be proud of for Spain. We’ll see who we get in the quarters. It doesn’t matter who we get, we will go to compete.”
Villarreal could face one of the Spanish sides in the quarter-finals, along with Benfica, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool or Bayern Munich.
