Villarreal defender Carlos Marchena admits that it was disappointing to lose 5-1 to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday evening but believes that they can still turnaround the tie and progress to the final.
Despite taking the lead on the stroke of half-time in the first-leg of their semi-final tie in Portugal, the Yellow Submarine collapsed in the second-half and conceded no fewer than five goals.
However, midfielder Marchena retains hope of a turnaround in Spain in the second-leg next week and is quoted by Uefa.com as saying: “While there’s life there’s hope. It’s going to be a great match at our place and why shouldn’t we dream of a comeback? Now we have to keep our heads held high because we have also got the league to think about.”
Reflecting on their performance in Porto, the 31-year-old stated: “It is a very disappointing result for us. We did very well in the first-half and managed to edge ahead just before half-time. But at the start of the second period we lost our balance, lost our shape and were very bad thereafter. The second-half was unrecognisable from the first.
“Every time we conceded, we tried to fight back and score immediately but we paid a heavy price for taking risks. Porto ended up with an excellent result to take to Villarreal.”
In the other semi-final, first-leg encounter last night, Benfica won 2-1 against fellow Portuguese side Braga at home.
