Alejandro says that the team didn't look focused in their loss. (0:58)
The speakers at the arena blared "Bitter Sweet Symphony" and "The Show Must Go On" as soon as the final whistle blew on the game.
They were too busy celebrating their team's win which secured a place in the semifinals. Unai Emery had shocked a European superpower again. The Yellow Submarine earned a place in the semifinals after a win and a draw over the last week.
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The Reds are almost certain to face the Portuguese team in the last four when they host the first-leg at home on Wednesday. Even the most cautious supporter of the Reds will be happy with the progression of Villarreal, even though they were poor over the two legs. They have always been a team that punches way above their weight.
They are a club from a town with a population of just 51,000 and have never won a major trophy. They have made the most of it, since that victory earned them the final spot in the European competition. In the Round of 16 Emery's team defeated the Italian giants and now they have beaten the Germans.
If you want to achieve something in this competition, you need to beat the big teams. We analysed the game well.
Even though he achieved something domestically this season, his first year as a coach will be considered unsuccessful because of this result, something he admitted.
We are out of the German Cup. This is not good enough for them. The semifinals was the minimum goal and we failed to achieve it.
The people of Villarreal are continuing on. In less than a year, this small club from a tiny town in northeastern Spain has beaten some of the biggest clubs in the world. If it turns out to be the case, the team that is under-estimating is well-drilled and organised, so they should be wary of it. They are committed and hard-working and like upsetting European football royalty.
Going into this game, it seemed impossible for Emery's side to win because of the fact that they had 30 goals in the first-leg. The game-plan for this fixture was clear from the start -- a packed defence with barely touching distance between the back four and the midfield. At one point in the first-half, every player on the team was behind the eighteen-yard line as they attempted to frustrate the visitors.
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The home side was annoyed by the fact that they were able to kill the game by running down the clock or making the most of any challenge that would cause one of their players to get injured. Despite an array of attacking talent which saw them come out with five forwards, they couldn't break through and the best first-half chances were wasted by Danjuma and Gerard Moreno. It was obvious that the home side would exploit the gaps in the Villarreal defence when Robert Lewandowski scored the second goal of the game.
Despite creating 24 attempts on goal, they could only manage four on target. Going forward, they were as predictable as Villarreal were with their defensive tactics. On 71 minutes, Thomas Muller missed an easy chance, heading Sane's cross wide from six yards. They never are. They had a counter-punch of their own, displayed with devastating timing when substitute Samu Chukwueze beat the offside trap to score on 88 minutes.
Emery had pulled off another tactical victory against a highly-rated coach, and that was game, set and match for Villarreal. Unai Emery, who lasted less than two seasons as a coach, has won four Europa Leagues with Sevilla, and one with Villarreal. Can he add a trophy to his collection? The odds are against him, but time and again, he has shown us that it is a risky business to bet against him.
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