The hero of the knockout phase against SSC Napoli is optimistic about the team’s visit to Germany
Tomás Pina is dreaming about being the hero again for Villarreal in the UEFA Europa League. The midfielder scored one of the most important goals of his career against SSC Napoli which sent Villarreal through to the UEFA Europa League Round of 16. His great left footed strike that struck the top corner will have a lasting effect on the most passionate Villarreal fans.
The Yellows will face Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the BayArena and take a 2-0 lead into the game, gained in the first leg at El Madrigal. Despite the advantage, Tomás Pina says they can’t be overconfident: “We’re only thinking about getting to the next round in Europe. It will be a tough game against a great team and to get through would give us a lot of confidence. It’s a difficult place to play, against a strong opponent and we haven’t got such an advantage that we can think it’s won and get too confident”.
According to the Yellow number 4, the best way to go into this tie is to hunt down the opposition goal: “We’re going to Germany with a good lead, but we should approach the game with the mentality of scoring, working hard and not letting them into the tie at any point. We know that if they score they will be back in the game and they’ll pile on the pressure”.
The Submarine will try to keep a clean sheet. “It will be key that they don’t score and even more so that they don’t do it early on. They will pressure us and if they score first they’ll play with even more intensity. Therefore we mustn’t let that happen and must control the game from the start”, Pina analysed.
To finish, the Yellow midfielder was optimistic: “Our key moment has arrived. We lost in Sevilla in our last match, but no more now. We’re convinced that we’ll get through to the next round in Europe and after that everything will become clearer”.
