Villarreal coach Quique Setien was delighted after their 2-0 win against Almeria.

Gerard Moreno and Jose Luis Morales struck for the visitors.

Setien said, “The whole team gave their all. Except for the first few minutes, when we were imprecise and the accumulated tension showed, we overcame that phase and completely controlled the game and played a great match. We were patient and waited until we found space. The goal came when it had to come. I'm very happy because we did things very well.

“We positioned the players well and controlled the spaces well. We knew the difficulties we could create for our opponents with good positioning, but what was missing was the difficult part, defining all those actions. The team was very good and we waited for the moments that, in the end, appeared. We generated and conceded relatively little.

“We try to talk about the fact that when you can't get forward you shouldn't rush. You have to move the opponent and make them run, that's when spaces appear and you can take advantage of them. Today we controlled that aspect quite a lot. It's a situation that we have to keep working on and be at the level we were today."

He added, “There are several important things today that will help us in the future. We conceded very little when defending with the ball. They come out with a lot of pace and generate a certain amount of risk, but we controlled it well. The recovery of important players like Pedraza, Gerard and Lo Celso is a huge boost for the squad because now we can decide who plays and there is a high level of competitiveness. I'm sure it's going to help us a lot."