Quique Setien talks ahead of Villarreal vs Barcelona: “Not special, just another game”

Barcelona lock horns against Villarreal on the weekend in the hopes of consolidating their spot on top of La Liga. Real Madrid are away for the Club World Cup, and will not play until 15th February, which means Barça will have the chance to go 11 points clear on top of the table.

Ahead of that game, Villarreal manager Quique Setien spoke about the game. The Spaniard was Barcelona manager for a nearly six months after Ernesto Valverde was sacked in January 2019.

However, his stint ended disastrously, as the Catalans lost out the La Liga title to Real Madrid, and lost 8-2 against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. He is, by no means, a popular figure at Barcelona.

“It’s not a special match at all, it’s just another game. The reality is that this team is one that I have always liked, I do not deceive anyone and we all know that philosophy that Barcelona maintains with coaches like Xavi,” Setien said.

He also added, “I have always liked it, and I am a great admirer. But now, we are going to face them, and we are going to try to get up to their level, play a great game and win it.”

Setien has set up his team fluidly, and when asked whether it will be an open game, much like his Real Betis vs Barcelona games from 2018, he replied:

“Surely a great match is expected. Barcelona’s matches are usually like that. The logical thing is that they have more options. That is why we must secure the defence, although it is not easy to do against teams of their class.”

Reports had suggested that Villarreal main man Gerard Moreno could miss the Barcelona clash due to injury, which sets them back massively. Setien also confirmed the situation, but was not too sure about his participation.

“Let’s see what happens, Gerard has some small discomfort and we’ll see how it evolves from here to the game. In principle, we count on him, but we cannot confirm it 100%. I think until the lineup, we will not know if we will be able to count on him.”