uefa europa league 2010/11
round of 16 first leg
10th march 2011:
10th march 2011:
bayer leverkusen v. villarreal
The Bundesliga side welcome Villarreal to the BayArena as the competition "really gets going", according to Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes, and Hyypia is particularly motivated to take Leverkusen into the last eight. "There are only big clubs left in the competition now and these games are really exciting," "I have played many games like this in my career and I hope that many more are to come.
Hanno Balitsch, Eren Derdiyok, Renato Augusto and Simon Rolfes are also back for a practically full-strength Leverkusen, although Michael Ballack is still training individually and us unlikely to figure.
Villarreal go into the match in disappointing domestic form but playmaker Santi Cazorla has warned Leverkusen that his side, on their day, can beat any team. The Yellow Submarine had been enjoying a fine campaign up until about a month ago, when things started to go wrong for Juan Carlos Garrido's men in La Liga. In their last six Primera Divison matches, Villarreal have recorded just one win and suffered three defeats - the latest being Saturday's 3-1 loss to Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon. That defeat saw fourth-placed Villarreal slip four points behind Valencia in the race for third spot, although they still boast a healthy nine-point advantage over Athletic Bilbao in fifth.
