Villarreal vs Athletic Bilbao preview - Marcelino looking for vast Villarreal improvement against Athletic Bilbao
Posted Saturday, September 19, 2015 by PA
Villarreal coach Marcelino is looking for a vast improvement in his team this weekend at home to Athletic Bilbao after their Europa League defeat at Rapid Vienna.
The Spanish outfit gave away two second-half goals to fall 2-1 in Austria in their Group E opener.
"We didn't take advantage of our opportunities to double our lead and we were punished," Marcelino told Marca.
"We gave away two goals and we showed a lot of defensive deficiencies.
"This result is a warning that all the things that we do are not good and that we need to continually improve.
"We have a lot of work to do."
Villarreal have not kept a clean sheet this season and Marcelino knows his side needs to show more focus at the defensive end.
"You can't win many games if you concede goals," he said. "We have given away goals in our opening four games and we need to be more careful."
The loss was a shock for Villarreal, who are unbeaten in the Primera Division and hoping to clinch a third-straight league triumph when Athletic come to town.
Last weekend's 3-1 victory at Granada lifted the Yellow Submarine to fourth in the standings.
They are just two points adrift of league leaders Barcelona.
Athletic, meanwhile, go into the encounter at El Madrigal stadium on the back of a morale-boosting 3-1 win over Augsburg.
The Basque outfit came from behind to win their Europa League Group L opener.
Aritz Aduriz scored twice against Augsburg to spark Athletic in their comeback.
Aduriz had found the back of the net twice in last Sunday's 3-1 win over Getafe, Athletic's first win of the campaign.
"Aritz was crucial for us," Athletic coach Ernesto Valverde said. "I'm delighted with how my team reacted.
"It wasn't easy as the team we faced was of great level.
"Now we have little time to rest but the same applies for Villarreal. We expect a difficult game on Sunday."
Athletic have yet to win on the road this season.
Roberto Soldado is expected is to lead Villarreal's attack with the former Tottenham striker having rested on Thursday.
Moreover, Villarreal defender Eric Bailly is available after serving a one-match ban in midweek.
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