ANDn a few months, Paul Torres He has had to face several of the best strikers on the football scene: Benzema, Cristiano, Cavani, Vlahovic… Now the biggest challenge awaits him when it comes to trying to stop the Pole Lewandowski in an exciting Champions League quarter-final tie against bayern. Aware of his strengths and weaknesses, Pau works with his coaching staff defensive forcefulness, aspect that recognizes that it must improve.
P. This year you have crossed paths with Cristiano, Vlahovic, Benzema and now, Lewandowski.
R. He is a very complete striker who I was able to face in the European Championship and in the match against Poland. He is different from Benzema, he plays differently. He is very corpulent, with a lot of goal. He looks like he isn’t, but he is in every action in the game. We come from the experience of Vlahovic, who made incredible shots out of nowhere. The defense will be all of us, starting from the top and working as a block. But we center-backs are in charge of keeping an eye on Lewandowski and those are the challenges you like.
P. The Pole has almost 50 goals this year, like the best Messi and Cristiano.
R. It is a very good figure, any team would like to have these players. We will try to keep him at bay and not score by doing a good job
P. Do strikers like him who go hand-to-hand bother you more?
R. Each striker has his way of playing. In this case we will try to analyze it, to see where we can harm it. We have very good analysts and we defenders prepare games like this.
Against Bayern we go without pressure, we have nothing to lose
P. But Bayern is not just Lewandowski, they are…
R. Muller, Sané… they are all international. They have wingers with a lot of overflow, physical players who will serve to see how far we are prepared to measure ourselves. Together with City, they are the big favorites to win this competition. But we go without any pressure, with nothing to lose. We will play loose and with great desire.
P. United, Chelsea, Madrid, Barcelona, Juve… No great has clearly surpassed them on the pitch. Are Bayern the most difficult of all?
R. As we progress we are playing with even better teams. We compete well against this type of teams. We went out concentrated to the maximum and we know that we will give the level. From there many factors come into play in a game against a team that doesn’t stop for 90 minutes. If we are able to be well and overcome their pressure, they leave gaps behind. But we have to be very successful so that the tie can go that way.
I am aware of who we are up against, but I also played for Spain against Germany and I faced some players who will be on the pitch and we won 6-0.
P. If they eliminate Bayern, let’s see who says that Villarreal is not a favorite to win the Champions League.
R. We were already able to defeat Juve, who were favorites, but now the great favorite arrives along with City. They have lost games in their league like anyone else and anything can happen in football. I like to follow football, the leagues. I am aware of who we are up against, but I also played for Spain against Germany and faced some players who will be on the pitch. We won 6-0. Many things can happen in football, the tie is very long and you have to compete.
We were already able to beat Juve, who were favourites, but now the great favorite arrives along with City”
P. He is one of the highest scoring center-backs in Europe. Did you sign a 1-0 victory at home with a goal from Pau Torres?
R. Yes, of course I sign it. But if it’s 2-0 better for the second leg. The goal is a task that was pending from set pieces. We worked a lot with Unai and, although I’ve missed some, I’ve already been able to score five goals.
P. In Spain, elegant central defenders continue to be branded as soft and it is a sanbenito that they have been hung up on. Against Juve he was able to take it away by being tough and forceful against a striker like Vlahovic, one of the best at the moment.
R. But I know that it is something that I have to improve, a must. I try to work with Rodri, our analyst, and with Imanol, the second technician. It is something that we have in mind and that we try to improve on a daily basis. In Turin we knew who we were up against, that Juve had paid a lot of money for Vlahovic. He and Haaland are the reference strikers who will mark football in the future, but luckily we played a good game and got through the tie.
Forcefulness? I know it’s something I have to improve
P. Today’s football, and more so in this Villarreal and in the national team, is not understood without a central defender who starts the game as is your case.
R. It is a line of play that luckily we have at the club and that is also what Luis Enrique wants. They are clear about what they want to play during the 90 minutes and the players they need for it. Center backs with a good start are important, shaping from behind. That gives teammates confidence and I think it’s the most appropriate thing from my point of view for current football.
Luis Enrique and Emery ask me for something similar, they are both great winners
P. Is there much difference between Emery and Luis Enrique?
R. What they ask me is similar, they are two great coaches, two true winners and leaders in their groups. They are the ones who set the style, the way of playing. I learn a lot from both of them, it’s a formation that we can have thanks to having those coaches.
P. The best example when it comes to playing is next to him in the figure of Raúl Albiol.
R. Raúl is a benchmark, not only because of his game but because of his personality, his way of working for the group. With his age he never rests. He is a mirror in which to look at himself for everything he has won, for his experience. It is fortunate that he has renewed for another year. Today the soccer career is extended, and if Raúl plays at this age with that level, I also want that. Since my first season I have been at his side, with a European and world champion. He teaches me a lot and luckily I learn a lot from him. He gives me so many tips that it is impossible for me to keep one.
P. For a kid from Vila-real who has achieved everything he has achieved at home, what dreams do you have left to make come true?
R. Keep winning and try to get another title. Why not? The World Cup is something that we have in sight in 2022 and that any footballer is very excited about.
P. Your story seems like a fairy tale, without setbacks since you came to the first team. Few know of a serious injury when he was a cadet.
R. It seems like that injury counts for all the ones I’m avoiding now. It was more than eight months. I broke my tibia and fibula when I was 15 years old and it was a difficult stage, where the club was very good to me and respected my line of growth so that this was not an impediment. It was a pre-season tournament with the cadet in England, and the club put me on a medical plane just for me and a coach who went with me.
At 15 years old I broke my tibia and fibula and Villarreal put me on a medical plane
Q. Is being the “xiquet de Vila-real” an added responsibility?
R. No, it is something that I know is with me. It’s a burden because you feel the club is yours, you know you’re part of it. You feel every defeat and with every victory you are very happy. Every little step that the club takes you feel that you take with it. I already made it clear when things happened in the summer that I had stayed to enjoy moments like the ones we are experiencing.
