Rolfes confident of progress

Leverkusen went down 3-2 in the first leg last week, substitute Nilmar scoring twice for Villarreal, including a last-minute winner. That put them in pole position to make it into the last eight, but Rolfes said his side were taking heart from their 1-0 win at Mainz at the weekend. "It was good that three days later we had to get out on the pitch again and we could win. That certainly does our psyche a power of good," Rolfes told the club's official website. The win over Mainz moved second-placed Leverkusen to within nine points of leaders Borussia Dortmund. "We are accustomed to being under pressure, even in the Bundesliga we have to win games," added Rolfes. "We have shown we are very strong straight away, so why should we not win in Villarreal as well?" Villarreal were brought back down to earth following their success in the first leg as they were held 1-1 at home by nine-man Sporting Gijon in La Liga at the weekend - leaving the Yellow Submarine with just one win in their last seven league games. Juan Carlos Garrido's side were undone by a Sporting penalty equaliser deep into stoppage-time at the end of that game, but it is the start of tomorrow's clash against Leverkusen to which Villarreal defender Gonzalo Rodriguez believes his side need to pay extra caution. The centre-back, who conceded the penalty that allowed lowly Sporting to gain a point, said: "The important thing is that they (Leverkusen) don't score in the opening minutes because that would give them a lot of hope. "We know we have good strikers and while I'm sure they are going to have chances to score, it's most important that Leverkusen don't get any against us. "In the opening minutes they will play a direct style of football because they have very strong players in the air. The Argentinian knows his side need to be switched on for the whole match as well though, not just the start, adding: "When they are knock-out ties you can't relax. "Bayer are very strong and we have to be attentive for the whole 90 minutes, although I'm sure they will be worried about our players. "We will try to get the win and make our fans happy." Coach Garrido welcomes back Spain full-back Joan Capdevila, who was suspended for the first leg, but Marcos Senna and Angel Lopez remain injury absentees.