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Manolo González is preparing his RCD Espanyol team for a new challenge on Thursday evening when they take on Villarreal on matchday eight of the LaLiga season.

In his press conference on Wednesday, he reflected on the team’s loss to Real Madrid last weekend before turning to the task at hand.

“We came out of that game angry because we thought we could do something positive. That’s why we’re now looking forward to a good home game against Villarreal,” he told the media.

“What you learn from this result is that you can have a good game and compete, but you can’t let yourself be switched off. In the Primera Division you can’t make mistakes because you will be punished. The team persevered and fought, but the game was decided by our mistakes.”

The coach analyzed that Villarreal “is a team with a lot of potential. They cut a very good figure offensively and defensively. In fact, they didn’t deserve to lose 5-1 the other day because of the way they played. We’ll definitely try to make sure it’s not an open game. We want to take the game to the terrain that is favorable for us.”

“I want us to be known as a competitive team. We have to try to get people to say that every game so that our rivals don’t look at us the same way they did in the first game. We have to improve day by day and we value the things we do well.”

Finally, he said about Villarreal’s strengths: “They are a difficult team to stop because they are very fast and direct.” We will try not to make mistakes because they can put you at a big disadvantage. We want to have a good game. The players’ faces after the game at the Bernabéu showed dissatisfaction; they wished there would be another game on Thursday. We want to continue to improve and for the team to try to get better every day – and continue to grow.”