Marcelino García Toral Critiques Scheduling for Upcoming Liga Match

omidbasir- Marcelino García Toral, the coach of Villarreal, has voiced significant criticism regarding the scheduling of their Liga match against Osasuna, set for Saturday at 16:15 hours. This timing poses a challenge as his team must undertake a lengthy journey to Germany for a match against Bayer Leverkusen, returning to Spain only early Thursday morning, resulting in merely 60 hours of effective rest.

Minutes before the continental match in Germany, Marcelino explained that after playing at 21:00 at the BayArena, the team would not be home until approximately “five in the morning.” He lamented that this factor appears to have been overlooked when scheduling the subsequent Liga match. “Inexplicably, they have set our next match for Saturday at 16:15, despite the fact that we have no Cup commitments next week,” he stated in an interview with Movistar, referring to Osasuna, who, like Villarreal, does not have a Cup fixture.

The Villarreal coach criticized this situation as yet another example of a planning process that “does little to support Spanish teams” and called for greater sensitivity toward those representing national football in international competitions. Marcelino argued that, given their participation in European competitions, there should be “a bit more consideration”: “This compels us to reflect, as unfortunately, we cannot advance further in this tournament.”

In preparation for the match against Leverkusen, the coach made several adjustments to the starting eleven, taking into account the proximity of the Liga match. Notably, he included Alassane Diatta, a 20-year-old Senegalese midfielder who had previously only featured briefly with the first team during the Copa two seasons ago. With numerous defensive absences, the Asturian coach opted to rest several key starters, such as Mikautadze, Gueye, Moleiro, and Pedraza.