Real Madrid vs Villarreal preview - Garrido rallies Yellow Submarine

Posted Wednesday, October 26, 2011 by PA

Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido has urged his team to be brave as the struggling Yellow Submarine make the daunting trip to Real Madrid looking to turn their season around.

Villarreal finished fourth last season but have had a miserable start to the current campaign, picking up just one win and seven points from their opening eight Primera Division games, while they have also lost all three of their Champions League group matches so far.

Garrido's men suffered another body blow on Sunday as they were beaten 3-0 at home by neighbouring Levante, a result that left them 16th in the standings and just two points off the relegation places.

To make matters worse for Villarreal, they come up against a Madrid side who have looked unstoppable in recent weeks, winning their last six competitive matches by a combined 25-3 scoreline.

Madrid have set a club record by scoring four or more goals in winning their last four league matches, while in 34 home games under Jose Mourinho, the nine-time European champions have recorded 29 victories.

It makes for ominous reading for Villarreal, but coach Garrido wants his players to stand up and be counted.

"We know we aren't doing well but we have the dignity, pride and bravery to get out of this situation. The time has come for us all to show our courage," said Garrido.

He added: "We have shown on many occasions our commitment. Now what we need to do is play better and be more clinical on the pitch.

"The first step is to get the team working well again and after that the results will come. It's obvious that in football the most important thing is to win games. That's our objective. Against Levante we suffered a very tough blow and now we need to react.

"We have the ability to get out of this situation."

Garrido knows it will not be easy at the Bernabeu though.

Mourinho's men did the double over Villarreal last season, winning 4-2 at home and 3-1 at El Madrigal with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring five of those seven goals, and Garrido believes his side will be facing an improved version of Madrid this time around.

"Madrid are a better team than last year. They are working harder. They have great players and as well as that they are now putting more emphasis on the work of the team," Garrido said.

"We are going to Madrid knowing we are facing a great team and that we must show our best qualities, both defensively and offensively. The next few games are very important to recover our self-confidence."

Madrid's 4-0 win at big-spending Malaga on Saturday, which saw Ronaldo net his third league hat-trick of the season in just 15 first-half minutes, lifted the capital club up to second spot in the table, a point behind leaders Levante.

Looking ahead to the game, Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka warned his side: "Villarreal caused us a lot of problems here last year. They have a great coach and we know that it will be a difficult game. We would be making a mistake if we think it will be easy."

Mourinho has included Fabio Coentrao in his squad after injury, but Ricardo Carvalho, Nuri Sahin, Raul Albiol, Lassana Diarra and Esteban Granero are all missing. Villarreal are without Nilmar, Carlos Marchena and Angel Lopez.