The striker recognises the importance of the Europa League clash against Bayer Leverkusen
The first leg is always the most important. That’s what Villarreal striker, Adrián López, said looking ahead to the Europa League Round of 16 first leg which the Yellows will play next Thursday (9:05pm CET) against the German side Bayer 04 Leverkusen. For the Asturian, it is crucial to start off on the right foot against the Rhenish team. “It’s a beautiful competition and it brings back good memories for me. We’re really excited. We thought we had taken a great step forward when we knocked out Napoli, who were one of the strongest teams in the competition. Now another difficult opponent comes our way in Bayer Leverkusen. It’s a great knockout tie and we have to start strong. The German teams tend to be very powerful physically, very hardworking and have players up front that throw you off balance. We will try to get a good result and a clean sheet, which is always important. Although they are on a bad streak in the league, Bayer will be a very dangerous team. They’re a great rival that are used to playing in European competitions. It’s a match to be enjoyed and to be fought. In these two leg encounters, the most important is the first leg. It doesn’t matter whether you play at home or away, this match is the key. It’s essential to come away with a clean sheet and to do as much as possible to get the win, because it will give us a great advantage in the tie overall”.
Furthermore, the Asturian wanted to reach out to the fans to ask them to cheer the team on at every moment. “Every team is stronger at home and, obviously, the fans help so much in these moments. There are moments in the match in which the fans cheer on and encourage us and it gives us that extra push that is so important. There are teams that have support in great numbers and this encouragement from the fans can help in many situations, such as turning the match around or giving you that bit extra that you need to score more goals. In our case, the support of El Madrigal is key to continue being strong at home, like we have been until now”.
Regarding the match against Las Palmas, in which Villarreal CF suffered its first loss from the last 14 LaLiga matches, Adrián explained that it had to come at some point. “Every time you lose, it is frustrating, but it’s also part of football. We went for a long time without losing and it was obvious that this moment was going to come. The most important thing is to rest well, recover well and correct what we haven’t done well on the pitch. The next match against Bayer is very important and it’s almost here, there’s no time to think about anything else. In the first half we weren’t playing as comfortably as in other matches. Las Palmas kept the ball well and they didn’t really do us any damage, but they were more clinical than us. They scored first and, in the second half, we closed in on them a bit more and created more chances on goal, perhaps we deserved the draw yes”.
Finally, the Yellow striker also talked about his personal situation, which sees him getting back to form on the training ground and picking up match minutes. “I’m feeling better every day as I get more and more minutes under my belt. I have played few matches in relation to the time I’ve been here. The truth is I’m feeling really good. I didn’t resent the injury and for me that was very significant. Every training session is really important for me now. For the team though, the most important is what’s left for us now, so what counts is trying to help the team as much as possible”.
