Two summers ago, with a broken heart after his difficult goodbye to Valencia, Daniel Parejo (32 years old) came to a happy football home; a team that from the first moment gave him a capital role in gearing him up so that he could show off his full potential again. Emery considered the one from Coslada the cornerstone of the project, he glimpsed in him a talent at his psychic and footballing zenith capable of making the yellow team better. The Basque made no mistake and together they surprised the continent by winning the Europa League against United. Tonight, almost a year after the Gdansk final and after masterfully beating Juventus with a Parejo in a state of grace, the
Villarreal, willing to dream, receives a whole Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
You are doing your best football in your thirties, what do you attribute it to?
Especially my colleagues. I think we have a game model here at Villarreal that suits me very well because I like to have the ball a lot and take the initiative. We play football in which I feel very comfortable.
In addition, a calm, calm body language is intuited, is it also his best psychological moment?
I think in the end, not when you’re older, because I consider myself young, but when you’re 30, 31, 32, you value football differently, you enjoy it much more. When you’re 20 or 21, the fact of playing in Primera is incredible, it’s your dream since you were little. But now, I am a football fanatic, at over 30 years of age you interpret the game much better, you do things to provoke certain situations, you know what is going to happen or you make a series of things happen… and when you are aware of all this is when you really enjoy football.
His departure from Valencia was painful, but he fell on his feet in Villarreal.
When they tell me that they don’t want me to continue at Valencia anymore, I spoke with my representative and we considered various scenarios. At that time, while I was on vacation, the coach called me, Unai, and he told me that he would like me to come, that the style of play suited me very well. And the truth is that I didn’t think about it. For me, Villarreal has always been a great team that has always fought for good goals: to be at the top and to try to play in Europe. Also, from the first day I arrived, the club, my teammates and the coaching staff have treated me tenfold, spectacular; And I’m telling you, despite what happened to me, life doesn’t end in one place. When one door closes, another one opens, and honestly, I’m very pleased and very happy here.
-Villarreal brought you together with Gerard Moreno, how do they influence the game?
Gerard, although he plays as a striker, likes to come and receive, he likes to associate, he can also run into space… he is clearly a footballer you are looking for because you know things are going to happen. In addition, in small spaces he seems to me to be a scandalous player.
And Trigueros? Spotlights rarely point at him, but how relevant is he to your attack?
He is an intelligent player who knows how to move, knows how to gain space and time in very complicated situations with reduced spaces with the rival on top. In addition, he has the facility to make passes towards the forwards, towards the last line, to be able to attack with much more guarantees. He has a very good foot to take the last pass.
How is the locker room before such a big game? Pressure, nerves?
They have to have the pressure, not us. Nerves? Obviously, but not only against Bayern, which is true that it is a great game, that they are the quarterfinals of the Champions League, it is that any game is important, any rival is difficult. We played against an opponent who would a priori be favorites in all the knockout rounds except perhaps one or two at most. We respect it, we assume it, but then football is football, we play eleven against eleven, there are five substitutions and superiority has to be demonstrated on the pitch.
For you, what is the scariest thing about this Bayern?
For me it is one of the two or three best teams in the world because, apart from having very good players individually, they are very good as a group. They take the initiative, they never get tired of attacking or scoring goals. It is not a team that maybe scores two or three goals and then stops, has long possessions and wants to have the ball. It is a team that if you can get eight, you get eight.
Do you think the key may be in taking the ball away from Nagelsmann’s men or will they adopt a similar approach to Turin?
There is a bit of knowing how to compete, having personality and showing it. Taking the ball from him is a challenge, we are a team that also likes to have the ball and that we like to take the initiative, but, obviously, we are not stupid. If at a given moment we see that they, due to the circumstances, dominate a little more, then we will have to adapt. I think that the good teams are the ones that adapt to different situations or difficulties within the same game. Because each match is a world and within that match there are different mini-matches and we have to know how to compete in all these types of situations.
In addition, the first leg at home will be without the rule of the double value of away goals in case of a tie.
Of course, the way of approaching matches has changed. Before, the most important thing was not conceding a goal at home; Now the main thing is to win the match. That is, if later it is with more goals difference, then much better. But it doesn’t matter if you win 4-3 or 1-0. We have to be ambitious because we play at home with our people.
Despite your recent good seasons, why do you think you have had so little continuity in the national team?
Well I do not know, really. I feel important here and, well, as long as you play for your club you have the possibility of being able to return to the national team. It is true that the competition is great, there are great footballers in the national team, but I work every day to be a better footballer, to be a better person, and hopefully I can wear the national team shirt again. For a player it is one of the most important things.
