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The original was posted on /r/soccer by /u/Sparky-moon on 2026-01-27 13:24:55+00:00.
Marcelino García Toral celebrates 30 years on the bench. Three decades in which he has worked as he believes is the only way a coach should work, as the ‘boss of the dressing room’. His Villarreal side face Real Madrid on Saturday, a team riding high after beating Monaco 6-1 in the Champions League, a competition that has been disastrous for the Yellow Submarine this season. Quite the opposite in La Liga, where they are third with 41 points.
The Asturian coach admits that even in his wildest dreams he would not have thought of reaching 41 points so soon, because it is an incredible achievement. But obviously he also thought they would score more in the Champions League. This is what makes soccer so great and wonderful, that it is unpredictable. “Villarreal is not the dark horse of La Liga, it is a team whose goal and challenge is to play in the Champions League for two consecutive seasons. There is still a long way to go, but we are on the right track,” confesses the coach.
Season aspirations
Regarding Mikautadze’s comments about fighting for the league title, Marcelino says he likes the players’ optimism and ambition, because it means they believe in what they are doing, in their teammates, and in the club. “We are a reliable team, but in games against top-level opponents, we struggle when we are behind. We have to get closer to the competitive level of the big three, and this Saturday we have an opportunity at home to show that we can do it.”
The Yellow Submarine coach analyzes his next opponent: “I have the utmost respect for Real Madrid, and I’m sure they have the human and footballing resources to turn any situation around. Right now, they’re going through a difficult period, because it’s not normal for Real Madrid not to win any titles in a season like last year and to be out of two tournaments halfway through this one, but look at them in the Champions League, they have a good chance of finishing in the top eight.”
“The coach has to be the boss in the dressing room.”
After 30 years managing teams, the Asturian coach knows very well what it’s like to go through good and bad times, and how volatile his profession is. “Xabi Alonso’s dismissal saddened me, but it didn’t surprise me, because we are seeing more and more that unexpected decisions are made. I can attest to that.” The Villareal coach admits that it saddens him every time he sees a teammate suffer because there is public speculation that his position is in jeopardy, as it reminds him of times when he himself went through worse.
“For me, the coach has to be the boss in the dressing room. If the president doesn’t trust that coach, he has to fire him. When there is a close relationship between the players and the management, and the coach is in the middle, when both sides judge the coach’s work, the dressing room knows that the coach is weak. That situation for a coach has a short, very short shelf life,” reflects the coach on something he has experienced firsthand.
La Liga is no longer the queen of Europe
Marcelino’s team is third in La Liga but second to last in the Champions League, which may be a sign that La Liga has lost its potential in Europe. The coach of the yellow team believes that, in general, Spanish teams competed better in Europe 5 or 10 years ago than they do now. The coach blames the economic possibilities of Spanish clubs. “Now many Spanish players are leaving our league. There are teams in the Championship that are financially on par with more than half of the clubs in La Liga. In our case, we are a Champions League team, we had an international player for Spain, and then Crystal Palace, which is not a top team in England, came along and took Yeremy Pino for a significant amount of money and with a higher salary than any Spanish team could pay him.”
His future at the club
As for his future, the Asturian coach admits that he is where he wants to be and that he is very happy at Villareal. He has not yet spoken to the club’s directors in depth, but he is sure that when the conversation takes place, if both parties agree that it is best for the club for them to continue together, they will continue together. “For our part, there is a total, but total, willingness to continue at Villarreal,” concludes the coach of the yellow team.