Villarreal in fine fettle

Third place
The Spanish side defeated Athletic Club Bilbao 3-1 at home to go third in the Primera División. José Mari Romero rediscovered his goal touch, scoring twice as Villarreal claimed their eighth straight victory. Diego Forlán, who is ineligible for the UEFA Cup, was again on target to bring his season's tally to 18.

Only doubt
Coach Manuel Luis Pellegrini has been deprived of the services of centre-half and captain Quique Álvarez while fellow defenders Juan Manuel Peña, who has failed to overcome a sprained knee, and Javi Venta are also out. With Roger García, Sebastián Battaglia and Javier Calleja still absent, youth-team defenders Edu and Carlos Alcántara will be on the bench.

'Pull out the stops'
"Alkmaar are a very good side and we will have to pull out all the stops to beat them," said Villarreal playmaker Juan Román Riquelme. "We will be looking to gain some kind of advantage from the home leg. We have been showing consistency and that has boosted confidence levels. On the pitch, you can tell that the team knows exactly what it wants. We need to make sure we come away with something concrete to show for the great season we are having."

First defeat
Alkmaar lost 4-2 at Feyenoord, their first Eredivisie defeat since losing against PSV Eindhoven on 21 August. Alkmaar were always up against it and although they scored through Robin Nelisse and Michael Buskermolen, their goals came when they trailed 3-0 and 4-1 respectively as Alkmaar slipped ten points behind leaders PSV.

Mathijsen blow
During the game, centre-half Joris Mathijsen succumbed to a knee injury, although the Dutch international, 25 this week, was subsequently diagnosed with an inflamed tendon and should recover in time to face Villarreal. Midfield player Martijn Meerdink is a definite onlooker with a cruciate ligament injury likely to keep him out for between six and nine months.

'Big away matches'
Coach Co Adriaanse remained unconcerned at the Feyenoord setback, saying: "We have three tough away matches in a row [with AFC Ajax to come next Sunday] and you cannot win them all. It is even normal to lose these matches. To win against Feyenoord, Villarreal or Ajax is an exceptional result."