Villarreal v Leverkusen background

Villarreal CF have reason for confidence as they meet Bayer 04 Leverkusen for a second time in the UEFA Europa League round of 16, past meetings and home form suggesting a Yellow Submarine win.

Previous meetings
• In their only previous encounters, Juan Carlos Garrido's Villarreal beat Jupp Heynckes' Leverkusen 3-2 in Germany and then 2-1 in Spain in the 2010/11 UEFA Europa League round of 16.

• Villarreal's record in ten meetings with German sides is W4 D3 L3 (W2 D2 L1 at home – W2 D1 L2 in Germany).

• Leverkusen's 33 matches with Spanish teams have yielded results of W10 D6 L17 (W7 D4 L5  at home – W3 D2 L11 in Spain). They lost 2-1 to Real Madrid CF in the 2001/02 UEFA Champions League final in Glasgow.

Form guide
• Villarreal have won all four of their European home games this season without conceding a goal (1-0, 4-0, 1-0, 1-0).

• Leverkusen's 1-0 success at Sporting Clube de Portugal in the round of 32 was their first European away win of the season.

• Villarreal bowed out to holders and eventual winners Sevilla FC in the last 16 last term. Their best campaigns in the competition ended in the semi-finals, where they were twice eliminated by eventual winners – Valencia CF in 2003/04 and FC Porto in 2010/11.

• Leverkusen's last round of 16 tie in this competition was the defeat by Villarreal in 2010/11. They last reached the quarter-finals in 2007/08. Leverkusen got the better of RCD Espanyol on penalties in the two-legged 1988 UEFA Cup final.

Trivia and links
• The journey from Leverkusen to Villarreal is around 1,350km.

• This is Leverkusen's 200th UEFA club competition match – their previous 199 have produced stats of W89 D44 L66.

• Leverkusen forward Admir Mehmedi turns 25 on 16 March, the eve of the second leg of this tie.

• Villarreal defender Jaume Costa turns 28 the day after the second leg, on 18 March.

• Villarreal's Samuel Castillejo is the most fouled player left in this season's competition, with the referee coming to his assistance on 29 occasions since the start of the group stage.

• Leverkusen's Javier Hernández played in Spain with Real Madrid CF from 2014–15, while Villarreal's Antonio Rukavina was in Germany with Borussia Dortmund and TSV 1860 München from 2008–12.

The coaches
• Marcelino's career as a midfielder was curtailed early by injury. As a coach, he worked his way up the Spanish leagues, culminating in spells with Real Zaragoza, Real Racing Club and Sevilla. He took over at Villarreal in 2013, leading them to promotion in his first campaign.

• In charge of Leverkusen since summer 2014, Roger Schmidt worked as a mechanical engineer while playing amateur football. He coached in the German lower leagues before making his name at FC Salzburg, who he steered to a domestic double in 2013/14 and the last 16 of the UEFA Europa League that same season.