Villarreal coach Unai Emery was delighted with their 2-0 win at Real Betis.
Pau Torres and Etienne Capoue struck for the victory.
Emery said, “We needed the three points against a direct opponent who were in a great place after their win in the Copa del Rey. We had to adapt ourselves to the difficult situation and know that having as much possession as we wanted wasn’t going to be possible, so persevering for 90 minutes was important. We’re satisfied at having put in a competitive performance.
“Our goalscoring statistics were very high, just like Betis’. We had to be capable of stopping their attacking ability. Keeping a clean sheet was a challenge, while we needed to be capable ourselves of finding spaces when they let us run and capitalise on our strategy. It was a game where we had to adapt to the opposition, respecting a great team. In LaLiga, we see more light. The team has hit back with the match against Mallorca, and today’s game. After a number of players have returned, we have more options and that gives us more confidence.”
He continued: “The 38-game LaLiga season will not lie and will put every team where they belong to be. Today wasn’t pressure, but there were demands. There are a lot of teams who are going to fight for the European spots and we’re a team that wants to be in Europe and go shoulder-to-shoulder with those teams. Because of today, we’re surer of ourselves and we gain confidence.
“LaLiga is a great league because it’s tight and we’re all very close. We’re fighting to get back in it after our start to the season, and we are critical of ourselves because of that. Now, apart from the defeat in Elche, we’re doing things well. We need to cut points back from our direct opponents.”
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