MENDILIBAR: "WHEN THE TEAM IS SUFFERING, THE FANS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT US AND THEY DON'T STOP"

José Luis Mendilibar is a happy man, as are the players. Following victory in the fixture with Villarreal, the man from the Basque Country explained how he saw the match: "We were impressive in the first 35 minutes, nicking possession near their box, being dangerous and scoring the goal. From then on they came forward more often, played better and caused us problems. In the second half it was even but they were still dangerous. We looked threatening up-front in the final minutes, but nobody thought that the winner would come from a corner. The truth is that we are producing these moments in each game."

On the visitor's goal which was awarded after VAR got involved, he acknowledged that "the explication they gave me was clear, that the player who crouched down was not interfering with our goalkeeper's line of vision. That is what they have told me. If a player is in an offside position and has to move out of the way, I am not sure whether he is interfering with play or not. I just hope that this will be refereed in the same way when it happens again."

Returning to his team, he assured that "we are good, the results are going well for us and we have to make the most of our current form. Sometimes you play well, other times you don't, but being able to suffer is important. We knew how to put up with a draw until the final minutes when we had a chance to score, and we did just that."

Finally, he thanked the fans: They come to watch the team, we generate danger... that encourages the fans and when we are struggling, they keep on supporting us and don't stop. That gives us strength to keep on moving forward."