Quique Setién focused on Europa League despite Villarreal’s Champions League opportunity

Quique Setién appears to be focused on landing a Europa League spot over challenging for the Champions League ahead of Villarreal’s clash with Girona.

The Yellows are now within five points of Real Sociedad in fourth place, with La Real having much trickier games to finish the season.

There is still an outside chance Villarreal could steal a top four position, but they haven’t yet secured a Europa League spot with four games remaining.

Villarreal are nine points ahead of Girona in seventh place, and the two sides go head-to-head in Catalonia on Saturday. A win could see Villarreal mathetmatically secure a Europa League spot with a win this weekend, but many still have eyes on a top four finish.

The Yellow Submarine will likely need to win all of their remaining games to stand a chance of managing that, but head coach Setién seems to be focused on a Europa League spot first and foremost.

“We have faced all the games that we have had lately with the same energy and the same intention to win,” he said in his pre-match press conference. “This is one more game, wego into it with the aim of winning, although we are aware of the difficulty.

“It is true, that right now we have a cushion that allows us a defeat, we still do not have the Europa League guaranteed and we are aware of it, but we know that we can guarantee victory in this game or in the following ones.”