Comandante Morales’ hat-trick shows Villarreal what they have missed | Sid Lowe

After a barren run, veteran forward has five goals in two games and has helped jumpstart Marcelino’s second stint at the club

One by one, 16,389 people stood to salute the Commander. First they got to their feet, then they applauded and then, as José Luis Morales, the man with the military title, made it to the edge of the pitch, they began bowing, repeating his name like some Gregorian chant. On the touchline, his coach – the fourth he has had this season and the one that might just have set him free at last – was waiting to welcome him back. They had barely been working together a week, but it was turning out nicely, hope let in again. “When good things happen to friends and family, you’re happy for them; this time it’s my turn,” the Villarreal forward said softly.

“Not in my wildest dreams did I imagine this,” Morales said. At the start of this week, he had started just three games all season and not scored a goal. A footballer capable of the ridiculous, who scored from 50 yards last season, he is 36 now and hadn’t begun a single match since September. Quique Setién didn’t play him, José Rojo Martin “Pacheta” didn’t either and, as for Miguel Ángel Tena, the caretaker coach didn’t get the chance. Morales, meanwhile, hadn’t scored in eight months. Then in the past week he played twice in four days, starting Marcelino García Toral’s first two games as the new coach, and did so five times. Yes, five.