'If I had to choose one of the 100 games I've played for UD Almería, I'd go for the season opener against Real Madrid CF,' explained UD Almería midfielder Samú Costa following his centurion game as a Rojiblanco player, and before the imminent clash against Villarreal CF.

The 22-year-old defensive midfielder also stressed that the appointment with the Madridistas was really special since 'the whole city had been waiting many years for that day and I worked two years to earn promotion,' although as he specified 'I'm fond of everything I've experienced because it's helped me grow and become the man I'm today. I'm ready for whatever comes.'

Moreover, Samú commented: 'I'm happy with the 100 games I've played so far. I arrived here at the age of 18 and thanks to my team-mates I've reached this number of appearances. I've gone through good and bad patches, but I've always stayed strong, thank God and my family. I'm young and I've got a great future ahead of me.'

With regard to Saturday's match against Villarreal CF, Samú pointed out 'We had lost three games when we beat FC Barcelona so we must remain humble against Villarreal CF and do the same job because we want to win, without a doubt.'

The Lusitanian did not speculate when it came to talking about UD Almería's chances in the race to stay up and believes that they must go game by game: 'We don't count points, we just try to win the next game. We're ready to compete and we hope to get ahead. We continue the same as when we lost those three consecutive matches. We always stick together and we're prepared.'

As for Villarreal CF, the Aveiro native highlighted his good squad and the risks he takes when playing out from the back: 'It's a talented team, from the Champions League. They're a great squad and I can't think of negative thing in them, we have to be prepared. For us, they're the ones in the league who risk more playing out from the back, but we press high and we'll be ready to finish plays, for sure.'

The Ciudad de Valencia Stadium [La Cerámica stadium was being remodelled] in the first half of the season when UD Almería were about to achieve their first victory away from home; the Rojiblancos put themselves in front, but Villarreal CF ended up coming back from behind to seal victory. 'There isn't any anger at that defeat experienced there. It won't be easy for them either to win here because we really want to win as a humble team.'