Following Villarreal’s 4-1 aggregate victory over Juventus, Unai Emery took a moment of the joy and put it towards Jose Manuel Llaneza.
The former Vice-President of Villarreal who has been at the club for 28 years stepped down from his post in February. The 73-year-old revealed in an open letter to the club and fans that he was suffering from leukemia. Emery had this to say to Diario AS.
“It’s dedicated to Jose Manuel Llaneza. We want to dedicate this victory to him because he is going through a moment of difficulty. Jose Manuel is full of energy and it makes me happy to know he will have had a good moment.”
Moving onto the match itself, Emery explained his decision to bring Gerard Moreno off the bench.
“We had a game plan. We knew here were going to be difficult moments. We took care of [Gerard] and we wanted him to come into the game with complete assurance. Today, Gerard came back for real.”
Asked about the fact three Spanish teams had made it to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, Emery was proud of the Spanish footballing community as a whole.
“It’s an extra thing to be proud of. We want our recognition and I feel proud of everything, for Spanish football, for Villarreal and for getting to the quarter-finals which I hadn’t done before.”
The inevitable question then followed – who would Emery like in the next round?
“I’m not going to speak about rivals. They are all very difficult. The quarter-finals are very complicated. We will prepare for them with great care and excitement.”
The Yellow Submarine have the opportunity to equal their iconic 2006 showing with a victory in the quarter-finals.
