"Courageously forward" in Valencia

The Violets landed in Valencia at 12:45 on Friday, after which the team went to the team hotel. At 17:15 and 18:00, the press conference, Sky interviews and the final training session at the Estadio Ciutat de València were on the agenda.

Coach Manfred Schmid gathered positive impressions and gives an outlook on the top match against the Champions League semi-finalists of the previous season: "We had a pleasant trip and were well received. We don't need to discuss the role of the favourites, the roles are clearly distributed. It is important for us to play courageous football against Villarreal. If we only defend, it will be difficult to take something with us. With a very good performance and a bit of luck - if everything goes together - then it's not impossible to score here."

Villarreal have been coached for over two years by star coach Unai Emery, who previously coached Sevilla, Paris SG & Arsenal. In 2020/21 the "yellow submarines" won the Europa League, in 2021/22 the Spaniards eliminated FC Bayern and reached the semi-finals in the Champions League, as seventh of La Liga Villarreal "only" remained in the Conference League this season, where they have rotated a lot in the two games against Lech Poznan (4:3) and Hapoel Be'er Scheva (2:1) so far.

"The clear favourites are Villarreal, we will present ourselves as well as possible and play bravely going forward. We will look to take the chances we get and not let them slip away like we did against Sturm Graz," said Andreas Gruber.