Deportivo coach: Aubameyang is an incredible player and works extremely hard in training

Deportivo came from behind to defeat Villarreal 3-2 away from home, and head coach Hidalgo described it as a great victory.

After the match, Hidalgo said: “It was a very good victory. The playing surface was very difficult, and the opponent was a Champions League-level team. We knew they would put us under a lot of pressure, and we also knew we would face a tough battle. We were prepared for everything.”

The Deportivo coach stressed that the team understood how difficult the fourth-round match would be and had prepared to “compete and fight” for 90 minutes. Hidalgo said: “We had more possession in the first half, but although we did not face too much danger in the second half, we dropped too deep.” However, he still praised the players' ability to “stay involved in the game” after the home side scored their second goal.

After taking three points away from home, Deportivo had collected eight points from their first four rounds, but Hidalgo said he was not focused on the current standings. He said: “The league is still very long. We are still far away from avoiding relegation, and avoiding relegation is the club's goal. The table will only tell you where you finish in the final round. Many players in the team, including myself, are appearing in the top flight for the first time, so we need to enjoy this, keep training, and wait for the next match.”

When reviewing the victory, Hidalgo deliberately played down his own contribution and pointed out that the team's excellent performance “was not decided by names.” In his view, what mattered was “going onto the pitch and performing at the right level.” Following this idea, he also highlighted the substitutes who received playing time at the Ceramic Stadium: “The players who came on in the second half, such as Adama, Yere and Zaka, gave us a lot of breakthroughs on the wings. We already knew we could create problems on Villarreal's flanks.”

Speaking about Aubameyang, the team's top scorer and the best player of the match, the Catalan coach was full of praise: “I hope everyone can see what he is like in training every day. His smile is very infectious. He is an incredible player, and I do not need to say more about his ability. He works extremely hard in training and also has decisive talent, which is why he has achieved the career he has today.”