Marcelino worried about Spurs as Villarreal boss admits to team selection decision

Spurs return to the Champions League with Villarreal up first whose manager is wary of the Premier League outfit.

Sign up to our LondonWorld Today newsletter

Sign up

Thank you for signing up!

Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to LondonWorld, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you.

Submitting...

It’s not unfair to say that Tottenham scraped into the Champions League via the backdoor although this doesn’t make their presence any less worthy.

The Europa League isn’t an easy tournament to win and it was easy to see why the Premier League took a back stage when there was a chance that it could be added to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium trophy cabinet. An even bigger reward has been the sort of fixture list that Thomas Frank will be hoping sees his team advance to the knockout stages without too much trouble on their return to the Champions League.

Villarreal boss admits he is worried about Tottenham

Of the traditional big guns, only Paris Saint Germain can be classed as a team who Spurs will start the match as underdogs even if a solid start to the season suggests that they will be competing at the right end of the table once again.

With this in mind, it is easy to see why Villarreal boss Marcelino Garcia Toral had one eye on his side’s trip to London when speaking in his post-match press conference following a defeat to Atletico Madrid via Villarreal’s official website: “The key to beating Atlético is being clinical, and we were not. We had chances from Alberto Moleiro and Nicolas Pepe, but we did not convert them.

“With the substitutions, I was looking for different solutions. Honestly, with the score at 2-0, I thought of the match against Tottenham. We had to consider that some players were returning from injury, others from international duty… In addition, at that point we were lacking power and attacking presence in midfield, hence the changes. In the end, not taking the chances in the first half and some in the second, combined with the second goal, was a blow we could not recover from.

“We will try to help them (the new signings) adapt as quickly as possible. We know we play every three days, which makes it difficult, but that is no excuse. They need to get used to their teammates, the competition, and our objectives quickly. The coaching staff will do everything to make that happen as soon as possible.”

What sort of form are Villarreal in?

Villarreal currently sit fifth in La Liga with two wins, a draw and a defeat, other than Barcelona, nobody in the league has scored more goals. Pre-season can be a difficult marker to judge teams, but with three games against English opposition, it is a little easier to assess the Spaniards.

A 1-1 draw with Leeds United was followed by a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa before overcoming Arsenal 3-2 to highlight just unpredictable they can be.

The Villarreal line-up will have several familiar names and faces with ex-Spurs defender Juan Foyth being joined by former Arsenal players Nicolas Pepe and Thomas Partey. Renato Veiga signed from Chelsea this summer and veteran forward Ayoze Perez, formally of Newcastle, is still on the go. Marcelino has injury concerns of his own though and will be frustrated that he can’t name his strongest XI.

If Frank sees a repeat of the performance against Man City then three points and a good start shouldn’t be a problem, however, any drop in standards and players like Georges Mikautadze could make them suffer.