Calling Villarreal Showing A Mature Attitude Towards Juventus, Unai Emery: We Don't Let Our Heads Bow In The Slightest

JAKARTA - Villarreal coach Unai Emery praised the mature attitude of his team who were able to come back from behind when they hosted Juventus in the first leg of the 2021/2022 Champions League last 16.

“We don't let our heads drop one bit. We showed maturity and experience as individuals and as a collective against opponents," Emery said.

In the match which was held at the Estadio de la Ceramica on Wednesday, February 23 early morning WIB, Villarreal as the host fell behind first. Juventus took a 1-0 lead through Dusan Vlahovic's execution when the game had only been running for 32 seconds.

Luckily Villarreal can catch up towards the end of the game. Through the movement of Dani Parejo who escaped from Adrien Rabiot's control, the hosts were able to make it 1-1 in the 66th minute.

#UCL | 1-1 90'+4' | ¡Y final ⌛️🔚 en La Cerámica!Los amarillos dejan la eliminatoria abierta tras una gran segunda parte en la que vieron recompensado su trabajo y tenacidad con un gol de @DaniParejo de puro trabajo colectivo.¡#Endavant, Villarreal! pic.twitter.com/7uC7hQUC5K

— Villarreal CF (@VillarrealCF) February 22, 2022

"This allowed us to realize that anything can happen against big teams like Juve. We managed not to bow down and that maturity is very important," he continued.

The 50-year-old coach also explained that Raul Albiol had helped his team-mates to stay calm during matches. The reason is, conceding the second goal will be very worrying for the team's mentality.

On the other hand, Emery doesn't want his team to be satisfied with the result against the Old Lady. He demanded Juan Foyth et al to maintain concentration in order to again reduce the power of Juventus in the second leg which took place at the Allianz Stadium, Turin.

“We always want to give our best. We want to win and be strong. They (Juventus) are still the favorites for this (competition), but we don't want to lose the chance to get to the next round," Emery explained.

This is the first time Villarreal have reached the knockout stages of the Champions League in 13 years. Even so, Villarreal's experience playing on the European stage should not be underestimated, because El Submarino Amarillo was the defending champion of the Europa League last season.