Relegation heartache: Rayo president accuses Villareal of not trying
Sporting’s 2-0 win over Yellow Submarines sees them stay in La Liga at Vallecano’s expense
Sporting’s players celebrate a goal during their 2-0 win over Villarreal that saw them extend their La Liga stay for another year. PHOTO: AFP
BARCELONA:
Rayo Vallecano president Raul Martin Presa accused Villarreal of not trying hard enough in their final game of the season against Sporting Gijon, who avoided relegation from La Liga at Rayo’s expense on Sunday.
Rayo beat Levante 3-1 but their five-year stay in the top flight came to an end as Sporting beat Villarreal 2-0 at home. Rayo finished 18th in the table, a point behind Sporting.
Villarreal had already sealed fourth place and qualified for next season’s Champions League. Their coach Marcelino, who had also managed and played for Sporting, fielded a weakened team for the game on Sunday.
Suarez hat-trick fires Barca to La Liga title
“Villarreal did not even compete with their starting line-up, their substitutions or their tactics,” Rayo president Presa told reporters. “From the first minute you could see that this was no normal game. In previous years we have always played to the death in our last game, Villarreal did not prepare anything.”
Marcelino had angered Rayo and fellow strugglers Getafe the week before the match when he said: “I want to win the game but I hope Sporting stay up.”
La Liga: Barca slump to fourth defeat in five, Atletico joint top
Presa also alluded to those remarks. “In Villarreal, there’s a person who has planned this since last Sunday,” he said. “But congratulations to Sporting.”
Marcelino fired back by saying he respected the competition ‘as much as possible’. “It was a game between one team with everything to play for and another who had already completed their objectives,” he told a news conference.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2016.
Rayo Vallecano president Raul Martin Presa accused Villarreal of not trying hard enough in their final game of the season against Sporting Gijon, who avoided relegation from La Liga at Rayo’s expense on Sunday.
Rayo beat Levante 3-1 but their five-year stay in the top flight came to an end as Sporting beat Villarreal 2-0 at home. Rayo finished 18th in the table, a point behind Sporting.
Villarreal had already sealed fourth place and qualified for next season’s Champions League. Their coach Marcelino, who had also managed and played for Sporting, fielded a weakened team for the game on Sunday.
Suarez hat-trick fires Barca to La Liga title
“Villarreal did not even compete with their starting line-up, their substitutions or their tactics,” Rayo president Presa told reporters. “From the first minute you could see that this was no normal game. In previous years we have always played to the death in our last game, Villarreal did not prepare anything.”
Marcelino had angered Rayo and fellow strugglers Getafe the week before the match when he said: “I want to win the game but I hope Sporting stay up.”
La Liga: Barca slump to fourth defeat in five, Atletico joint top
Presa also alluded to those remarks. “In Villarreal, there’s a person who has planned this since last Sunday,” he said. “But congratulations to Sporting.”
Marcelino fired back by saying he respected the competition ‘as much as possible’. “It was a game between one team with everything to play for and another who had already completed their objectives,” he told a news conference.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 17th, 2016.