Giovani Lo Celso has thanked Villarreal and Unai Emery for their trust after the Tottenham Hotspur loanee produced a Man of the Match display to beat Bayern Munich, via Marca.
A sole goal from Arnaut Danjuma in the eighth minute was the difference as El Submarino Amarillo beat the Bundesliga giants. The La Liga outfit will now take a narrow first-leg lead into the reverse game of their Champions League quarter-final tie in Bavaria next Tuesday.
Lo Celso firmly believes Villarreal – who eliminated Juventus from the last 16 – should have put more past Manuel Neuer. Emery’s men enjoyed a raft of chances, with Gerard Moreno hitting the post. But Francis Coquelin’s goal that was ruled out was the closest to a second.
Danjuma’s opener also came about with a stroke of fortune after Dani Parejo’s effort fell invitingly for the Dutchman. Lo Celso had fed Parejo to take a shot on Bayern Munich’s net and the Tottenham loanee proved relentless to help Villarreal limit what their guests tried.
The £27m former Real Betis playmaker could have ended the night with an assist, too, had the offside flag not ruled out Coquelin’s hit. Lo Celso played a delightful ball into Der FCB’s box to find the former Arsenal midfielder. Yet he remains without an assist with Villarreal.
Tottenham loanee Lo Celso thanks Villarreal for ‘trust’ after MOTM UCL display
Bayern Munich in the Champions League marked Lo Celso’s 11th game for Villarreal since leaving Tottenham on loan in January. But he is yet to score or provide a single assist in all competitions over 761 minutes. Yet his efforts on Wednesday saw UEFA name him MOTM.
The 25-year-old only offered one goal and two assists over his 19 appearances for Spurs in all competitions this term. His sole goal and an assist also came in the Europa Conference League, with his second assist being in the north Londoners’ FA Cup win over Morecambe.
Antonio Conte rarely trusted the 38-cap Argentine with just seven outings after replacing Nuno Espirito Santo at the helm. Now, Lo Celso has taken a subtle swipe at Conte after the Tottenham loanee thanked Villarreal and Emery for their trust after facing Bayern Munich.
“Congratulate the team for their effort,” he said. “[Bayern] were favourites in the previous round, who were going to kill off the series. But this team is hungry, humble. We faced one of the best teams in the world, but we played a good game and the result fell short.
“We knew that if we gave them the ball we could suffer. We had situations so the result was greater. We had many chances. They are one of the best teams in the world, but the first thing that comes to mind is pride. We wanted to give a good image to the world.
“We knew we had to defend and attack together. I would like to thank the coaching staff for the trust they gave me. The series is open. Tuesday is not going to be easy. But if we are focused, we can have a chance of qualifying.”
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