Villarreal face PSV this Saturday at the Philips Stadion
Villarreal take the field this Saturday at 6 pm against PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion, in the second test of their pre-season. The mission is clear: build up physical rhythm and absorb the first tactical concepts of the new coach, Íñigo Pérez.
After the stumble against Benfica
The match follows on from a tough opener. Last week, the club from Vila-real fell 2-0 to Benfica, another heavyweight name on the European continent. Now the opponent changes, but the level of demand remains high: PSV arrive as the current champions of Dutch football, and serve as a thermometer to measure the team’s progress under the new technical command.
Íñigo Pérez, newly arrived on the bench, is using these friendlies to test variations and observe how the squad responds to his ideas of play. More than the result, what matters at this moment is the tactical reading.
Absences and returns that weigh
The list of absences remains practically the same as at the opener. Tani Oluwasey, Alex Freeman, Tajon Buchanan, Nicolás Pépé and Pape Gueye, all called up for the last World Cup, are still taking extra days of holiday before reporting back.
On the other hand, there is good news in the medical department and in the reintegrations. The Franco-Cape Verdean defender Logan Costa has been training with the group since last Tuesday. Argentine Juan Foyth, who is recovering from a tendon injury, has resumed work alongside his teammates, although without confirmation of his presence on the pitch.
The academy gains space in pre-season
Even with the absences, Íñigo Pérez will have at his disposal a team quite close to the ideal. One of the names standing out is full-back Carlos Romero, back at Villarreal after two years on loan at Espanyol.
Besides him, youngsters from the academy are training with the main squad and competing for quality minutes in this preparation phase. That is the case of Maciá, who recently had his contract renewed and emerges as an option for the coach to rotate the squad without giving up competitiveness.
