Marcelino hails Villarreal resilience

Marcelino hailed Villarreal’s defensive resilience and ability to score “a great goal” during Thursday’s 1-1 draw with Napoli in the Europa League last 16.

Tomas Pina’s second-half finish at the San Paolo cancelled out Marek Hamsik’s opener to send the Yellow Submarine into the round of 16, his side having progressed 2-1 over both legs, leaving the Coach delighted with their efforts.

“The team are on a very good unbeaten run,” he said after the game.

“It was hard for us to score a goal [at the San Paolo], but we knew we had to score and we did.

“They scored with their first chance, but we dominated without creating more and got a great goal, maybe with a little luck.

“We knew that a goal would force our opponents to score three, and that was very positive because it’s very difficult to score against us at the moment.

“We played with skill and a bit of luck, but now the schedule has tightened after this great physical battle, although it was very positive for our morale.”

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