Villarreal head coach Marcelino García Toral praised his team's second-half response after their 2-0 loss to Manchester City in the third round of the UEFA Champions League. He praised the players' fighting spirit and their efforts to narrow the gap despite falling behind.  

After the game, Villarreal coach Marcelino García Toral congratulated his opponents and admitted that his team had been dealt a blow in the early stages. He said: "We congratulate Manchester City and Guardiola for their victory. The opponents created several threats in the opening minutes that affected our confidence. We didn't react well enough, and then conceding the second goal was another blow to the team's morale."  

"We responded strongly in the second half and created scoring chances. We showed energy, belief and determination and caused City a lot of problems. We should have scored a goal."  

Marcelino also emphasized the team's performance in the second half after the game. He said: "We had four very obvious scoring opportunities. If we could score, the game might have a different direction. Manchester City certainly has the ability to fight back, but our response in the second half deserves recognition, which also made the final stage of the game more suspenseful."  

Marcelino expressed optimism when discussing Villarreal's prospects of advancing in the Champions League group stage. He said: "We've gone through the three most difficult games in the group and have only earned one point so far, which is obviously not what we deserve. But I'm satisfied with the team's overall performance, especially the counterattack we showed in the second half. It gives us confidence that we can compete with any opponent and strive for advancement in the next games."