Villarreal vs Malaga Preview - Villarreal attempt to get back on track

Posted Sunday, February 20, 2011 by PA

Villarreal will attempt to get their league campaign back on track following their recent stumbles when they come up up against rock-bottom Malaga and their old coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Villarreal slipped to fourth place in the standings, two points behind local rivals Valencia, after suffering surprise 1-0 defeats to lowly Levante and Deportivo La Coruna in their last two league outings.

That loss to Levante was Villarreal's first home defeat of the season at El Madrigal, where they had picked up 31 from a possible 33 heading into the game, and the Yellow Submarine will be desperate to make amends when they play host to Malaga.

The odds look good on Juan Carlos Garrido's men doing just that as Malaga have only won five games all season and are four points adrift of safety at the foot of the table, but Villarreal defender Mateo Musacchio is taking nothing for granted.

"It doesn't matter where they are in the table. Every game is difficult and any team can beat any other. This has happened to us the last two weeks and has happened to other teams, so the league position don't mean anything," said Argentinian Musacchio.

"We need to be focused and get back to how we've been playing this season, which for the majority of the time has been excellent."

Musacchio, whose side drew 0-0 at Napoli in the first leg of their Europa League tie on Thursday, also played down the fact Pellegrini should have plenty of inside information about Villarreal having coached them from 2004 to 2009.

"The same as Pellegrini knows this squad, the players know him. I don't think it's an advantage for anybody," said Musacchio.

Pellegrini is in agreement with that, saying: "In football we all know each other, I don't think there's any advantage."

The Chilean, who took over Malaga this season having last term led Real Madrid to a second-place finish following his departure from Villarreal, added: "There is always a sense of happiness when I return to Villarreal.

"My five years there were very important to me. They're a strong team, they've had a good season in the league and are playing in Europe, but the important thing is that we play well.

"We will look to take the game to Villarreal from the start."

Malaga are without a win in their last six matches but have drawn the last two, holding Andalusian rivals Sevilla 0-0 away from home and then fighting back from 2-0 down to draw with Getafe last time out thanks to two goals in the last 10 minutes.

However, one of their scorers from that match, the influential Julio Baptista, is set to be missing for up to six weeks due to injury.