Marcelino heaped praise on goalkeeper Neto after Valencia’s flattering 3-1 Europa League quarter-final win at local rivals Villarreal.
Valencia, who are 12 places above their relegation-threatened east coast neighbours in La Liga, were ahead after six minutes when Goncalo Guedes scored the rebound from Dani Parejo’s missed penalty.
But Villarreal responded with a spot-kick of their own after 36 minutes, former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla making no mistake from 12 yards.
The crucial blows were delivered by Valencia in added time, Daniel Wass first firing in left-footed from Jose Gaya’s cross before Guedes struck again to leave Villarreal facing an uphill struggle ahead of next week’s second leg at the Mestalla.
It was harsh on the hosts, who had dominated the second half, but Los Che keeper Neto was a key man in securing his side’s win.
Marcelino told UEFA.com: “Neto was brilliant I’d say. But to consider just one player responsible for a result, in my modest opinion, isn’t feasible. “The collective makes individuals great.
But Neto made some saves which kept us at 1-1 for a long time. “We started really well, 1-0 up and two big chances for 2-0.
But from the moment it went 1-1 Villarreal had opportunities to score.
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Neto played really well for us. “The last 15 or 20 minutes I’d say we dominated. Villarreal were high up the pitch late on, looking for 2-1.
We created good dangerous opportunities and scored two magnificent goals.
That means we leave here with a big result, possibly bigger than the performance of the other team would suggest. “Villarreal is a really good team.
Full of top footballers. This was the first time they lost in this season’s Europa League. They’ve been more true to their real potential in Europe than domestically.”
