Íñigo Pérez urges Villarreal to keep anxiety out of Napoli clash

“Mentality is fundamental, and that anxiety must not appear tomorrow,” Íñigo Pérez said before Villarreal’s Champions League match against Napoli, scheduled for Tuesday at 21:00. The coach wants his side to prevent doubts from resurfacing after the problems they have faced in some home matches.

Pérez would rather see shortcomings in the team’s play than in its state of mind. “I would prefer a poorer performance because of the coach’s approach or the players’ technique than because of mentality,” he said. He also argued that describing a negative trend after the second matchday was not urgent, for either Napoli or Villarreal.

The desire to win, he said, should remain without turning into nervousness. He spoke of the hope of celebrating with the supporters and the wish to beat Napoli, as well as the emotional pull of what happened last year. “We have to look at it from that perspective, not through the nerves or urgency of the first matchday,” he said.

Preparation also means energy and listening to the players. Pérez called the afternoon training session important and said the team would need a strong physical performance to overcome Napoli. Although changes to his starting line-up are possible, he believes that “any of the 11 players who start tomorrow can win”.

The coach warned that Napoli could target Villarreal’s past mistakes and pose a threat on the counterattack. He praised the opposing coach’s tactical ability and highlighted the value of experience and maturity in the competition, citing Kevin De Bruyne.

Pérez acknowledged that Villarreal have lacked finishing accuracy, which he said depends on his team’s precision and the opposing goalkeeper’s interventions. On Nicolas Pépé, he said the problem was “not a football injury” and that specialists did not expect recovery to take very long, while stressing that it would depend on his progress. The choice on the left wing will depend on what Villarreal expects from Napoli’s line-up. Pérez also rejected a change of cycle as an excuse for the results, attributing them instead to the team’s accuracy—or lack of it—in both penalty areas.