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Villarreal Can Beat Real Madrid - Diego Lopéz
With their first fixture of the new year pitting Villarreal against Real Madrid in the Bernabéu, goalkeeper Diego Lopéz has said it will be hard to triumph, but they can do it...
01-Jan-2009 9:56:20 PM
Villarreal might have started the 2008 season off with a bang, but they have finished the year in a bit of a rut, picking up just one point from their last three matches.
That run of results has seen them fall to sixth in the table, and it doesn't get any easier for them in 2009 as they travel to the Bernabéu for their first match of the new year.
The defending La Liga champions are sure to be in confident mood and speaking to AS today, Villarreal goalkeeper, Diego Lopéz, said he knows it will be a hard task, but not an impossible one.
"To win at the Bernabéu is difficult, to even score is hard, but Villarreal can do it," he declared.
"If we play a good game, serious and organised, we can win it, and we go with that objective. We start the year with two difficult games away from home, and we need to pick up points."
Indeed, if Villarreal are to keep up with their ambition to finish in the top four, they cannot afford to draw or lose too many games, with those around them looking in good form.
Real Madrid currently sit just one place above El Submarino Amarillo though, and Lopéz knows they have troubles of their own.
"We are not in great form, having lost two games in a row, and we need to win, but they are not in the best form either. I believe they have improved a lot with their new coach, but they should still be trying to gather styles and tactics for their play," he mused.
"If we play like we did against Barcelona then we can win, even though I do not see Madrid in crisis like people say. On Sunday they are favourites, but we will see what we can do."
James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com
That run of results has seen them fall to sixth in the table, and it doesn't get any easier for them in 2009 as they travel to the Bernabéu for their first match of the new year.
The defending La Liga champions are sure to be in confident mood and speaking to AS today, Villarreal goalkeeper, Diego Lopéz, said he knows it will be a hard task, but not an impossible one.
"To win at the Bernabéu is difficult, to even score is hard, but Villarreal can do it," he declared.
"If we play a good game, serious and organised, we can win it, and we go with that objective. We start the year with two difficult games away from home, and we need to pick up points."
Indeed, if Villarreal are to keep up with their ambition to finish in the top four, they cannot afford to draw or lose too many games, with those around them looking in good form.
Real Madrid currently sit just one place above El Submarino Amarillo though, and Lopéz knows they have troubles of their own.
"We are not in great form, having lost two games in a row, and we need to win, but they are not in the best form either. I believe they have improved a lot with their new coach, but they should still be trying to gather styles and tactics for their play," he mused.
"If we play like we did against Barcelona then we can win, even though I do not see Madrid in crisis like people say. On Sunday they are favourites, but we will see what we can do."
James Walker-Roberts, Goal.com
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