Marcelino made no secret of his disdain after Mateo Musacchio returned from Argentina duty with an injury to rule him out of Villarreal’s trip to Eibar.
Musacchio, who had only recovered from a fractured fibula and dislocated ankle in December, was confirmed to have torn a muscle in his thigh while representing his country last week, despite not playing for Villarreal since February 28 with a separate muscular ailment.
It is now possible that the defender will miss the rest of the season, and with Jaume Costa and Daniele Bonera also sidelined, plus Mario Gaspar’s suspension, Marcelino has just four recognised stoppers to choose from for the game on Sunday.
“We’re only going game by game and not long term because doing that does nothing for our point tally,” the Coach said at a Press conference.
“Right now, I’m only thinking about winning in Eibar, which is the game we have next, because picking up these three points would inflict a blow on our fellow [fourth-place] pursuers in this struggle.
“Our defensive line has been decimated as there are only four defenders who can play.
“With Mateo, we found that he suffered a much more serious injury with his national team than he did with us [before the international break].
“We were cautious and farsighted with him because we feared that this was going to happen.
“There were other Argentine players who returned to their clubs because they were injured.
“Everything else is beyond me, it’s not my responsibility. We have four defenders and they’re going to fight, there’s no other option.”
