In Munich on Wednesday night, Villarreal showed extraordinary resilience to emerge from a dying and certainly overconfident Bayern. A legitimate qualification, a reward for a carefree team.
There was plenty of speculation before kick-off in the Allianz Arena. Different analyzes and comments came to the same result: Bayern Munich would stop Villarreal. Through self-sacrifice the band of Unai Emery – still defending champions in the Europa League – demonstrated that they indeed had their place in this European elite and came brilliantly to secure their ticket to the final four. Like a 2006 tune†
Chukwueze, key man
Multiplying attempts doesn’t necessarily mean scoring. This Wednesday night, Bayern learned it the hard way. Dominating for nearly 90 minutes and with 23 tries on the cages of Geronimo Rulli, the Bavarians will indeed have framed just four, for a single goal off the feet of Robert Lewandowski (52and† On the other hand, in reality Villarreal will only rarely tremble, cashing in in a few hot situations for the Pool’s opening, without ever being taken from behind. “It will be a huge and difficult matchEmery explained before the match. The biggest challenge I had as a coach is this. And also for the club. They are the favourites, one of the three strongest teams at the moment. † His men managed to tackle this challenge.
And among the predominant elements of the Emery system, Samuel Chukwueze stands out. Joker of choice, the talented winger has actually landed on the lawn to don his hero costume and mark a page in his club’s history. Taking advantage of Munich’s desire (and perhaps extra confidence) to take out his family, as usual, the Nigerian went on board. Served by the excellent work of maestro Dani Parejo and Gerard Moreno, on the counter, to finish Manuel Neuer two minutes before time (88and† A specialty, for whoever scored each of his goals in La Liga and the Champions League from the bench (4 goals). The concept of “global team” that is close to Unai’s heart.
“They made the mistake of not killing us”
Because this qualification is also and above all that of the Basque technician. Designated as Designated Cutter, the former Sevilla has once again shown that it can react to big events. In 13 knockout matches under him, the Submarino Amarillo just didn’t lose one (9 wins, 4 draws). “We will try to be solid in defense and take our chances on offense” , he analyzed at a press conference. It is clear that the facts proved him strictly right.
D’Emery the trainer, Emery the troop leader was also quick to prove himself. Reprimanded by the inglorious outings of his colleagues in Munich, the person concerned certainly had the necessary arguments to motivate his protégés. Gerard Moreno: “In the first leg, we made the mistake of not finishing them, and all the comments around it served as motivation. Tonight they made the mistake of not killing us, and we took advantage of it. What this team has done is amazing. † Speech quickly concluded by the innkeeper Raúl Albiol: “We are a team that works, that hurts itself, we don’t have as much money as others, but we have to fight with different weapons. We suffered, we knew it, but we were paid back, we took Bayern out. And now we can dream to go even further. † So let’s dream bigger, as tradition dictates.
By Adel Bentaha
