Dani Parejo spoke in the press conference ahead of the first leg at Anfield on Wednesday. His club has defied the odds to overcome European heavyweights Juventus and Bayern Munich in the preceding knockout rounds.
The former Real Madrid man has been an integral part of Emery’s squad for the past few seasons. This time around the Spaniard has made 38 appearances in the league and CL, making nine goal contributions along the way.
“We have complete confidence,” Dani Parejo said. “On the basis of the teams we have beaten, not only this year, but also last year in the Europa League, and now the journey we have had in this Champions League.
“We are calm and we look at the group we have — we have good individuals but our greatest strength is the team.
“Knocking out Juventus and Bayern was very important for us because it showed we can reach a level where we can compete with these teams.”
“We’re playing the favourites but we want to be us and to play on the front foot,” said Villarreal coach Unai Emery.
“The journey does not have to end, we want to be in charge, to create chances.
“In normal conditions they are superior to us but we have our own ideas, individually and as a team, to allow us to compete.”
