Villarreal vs Zagreb Preview

Posted Thursday, December 02, 2010 by ESPN

Villarreal playmaker Borja Valero is targeting an early goal against in-form Dinamo Zagreb as his side go in search of the victory.

The Yellow Submarine are currently third in Group D heading into the penultimate round of matches, but they are just a point behind joint-leaders PAOK and Dinamo, who are both on seven points.

With the top two meeting in the final round of fixtures, Villarreal know they guarantee themselves a place in the knockout stages if they can down Dinamo and PAOK slip up at home to Club Brugge in tomorrow's other match.

On the flip side, Villarreal will also be aware that if results go against them in this round then they will bid farewell to the competition.

"We need to win the game no matter what. We have to continue in the same form as the last few games to impose ourselves on Dinamo Zagreb," said Valero, whose side defeated Real Zaragoza 3-0 at the weekend and drew 1-1 with local rivals Valencia in their previous outing.

It is unlikely to be easy for Juan Carlos Garrido's side, though, as Dinamo are in stunning form.

Since losing to PAOK in the Europa League back in September, the Croatians have rattled off 11 wins and one draw in 12 games - conceding just one goal in that time, which came 11 games ago.

Vahid Halilhodzic's team, who would progress through to the next stage with a victory tomorrow, also beat Villarreal 2-0 in the first meeting between the two.

To help Villarreal's bid for three points tomorrow, Valero has stressed the importance of getting in front early on.

"Dinamo are in good form and it will be difficult to beat them as they already showed in the first game against us," he said.

"I don't think they will come to attack. If we score an early goal it could settle the game, as we have two very fast strikers who can cause a lot of damage on the counter-attack. When we've gone ahead in other games, everything is a lot easier because the other teams open up.

"The other teams come here to try and close up shop, but we are used to that and we will try to play our game. It's a key game to try and help us qualify as soon as possible. We are also playing in front of our fans, so we can't slip up. We have high hopes in this competition and we need to win on Thursday."