Post by Bismarck on Jan 26, 2008 16:49:12 GMT
MADRID, January 26 (Primera Liga) - Villarreal striker Nihat Kahveci insists his side are not on a revenge mission as they take on runaway leaders Real Madrid with the task of trying to re-ignite a rapidly-fading Primera Liga title race.
By and large Villarreal have enjoyed a hugely successful campaign, but they suffered a night to forget back in September when, in the second week of the season, they were hammered 5-0 at home by Real Madrid.
That brought to an end a remarkable run of nine consecutive league victories, but Villarreal did not seem to let the mauling knock them off their stride as they won their next six league and UEFA Cup matches.
And for Nihat, there are many more reasons for wanting to do well this weekend than avenging that loss.
``We are not inspired by revenge. We want to have a good game to be able to beat Real Madrid, because it would allow us to continue at the top and, as well as that, it will boost our morale as they are one of the best teams in the world,'' he said.
Villarreal travel to the capital having kept clean sheets in their last three games against Recreativo Huelva, Valencia and Barcelona, and Nihat believes that is a real tonic for the team, whose record of 30 league goals conceded this season is the sixth-worst in the division.
``This gives us confidence, because we know that if we score a goal, we have a decent chance of winning the game,'' the Turkish international said.
Real's home record this season suggests it might be a little more tricky than that for Villarreal, with Bernd Schuster's side having won all nine of their home league matches to date.
They have also won their last seven league fixtures home and away, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas keeping clean sheets in the last six.
However, they did lose 1-0 at home to Real Mallorca recently, a result which saw the Spanish champions dumped out of the Copa del Rey.
``Clearly I would like to score and more so against Real Madrid, who have a goalkeeper who has not been beaten in a long time and this is especially motivating,'' added Nihat, who has netted 11 league goals this season.
Although his side are seven points clear of second-placed Barca, and 12 above Villarreal, Real coach Schuster insists they will not be treating Manuel Pellegrini's team lightly on Sunday.
``We have a lot of respect for them, because they deserve it as they are one of the three or four teams in the league who have been playing very good football,'' he said.
``Their coach wants a team who plays football. It will be a very good game, we know how strong we are in our stadium and we want to continue without letting any points escape from us at the Bernabeu.''
Schuster welcomes back Arjen Robben, Christoph Metzelder and Javier Balboa after injury, but Pepe, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Saviola are all unfit, while Mahamadou Diarra is at the African Nations Cup and Roberto Soldado has been omitted.
For Villarreal, Fabricio Fuentes is out for the rest of the season, while Matias Fernandez is also injured.
However, Guillermo Franco is available again while Javi Venta and Gonzalo Rodriguez both return after sitting out the goalless Copa del Rey draw with Barcelona on Thursday.
By and large Villarreal have enjoyed a hugely successful campaign, but they suffered a night to forget back in September when, in the second week of the season, they were hammered 5-0 at home by Real Madrid.
That brought to an end a remarkable run of nine consecutive league victories, but Villarreal did not seem to let the mauling knock them off their stride as they won their next six league and UEFA Cup matches.
And for Nihat, there are many more reasons for wanting to do well this weekend than avenging that loss.
``We are not inspired by revenge. We want to have a good game to be able to beat Real Madrid, because it would allow us to continue at the top and, as well as that, it will boost our morale as they are one of the best teams in the world,'' he said.
Villarreal travel to the capital having kept clean sheets in their last three games against Recreativo Huelva, Valencia and Barcelona, and Nihat believes that is a real tonic for the team, whose record of 30 league goals conceded this season is the sixth-worst in the division.
``This gives us confidence, because we know that if we score a goal, we have a decent chance of winning the game,'' the Turkish international said.
Real's home record this season suggests it might be a little more tricky than that for Villarreal, with Bernd Schuster's side having won all nine of their home league matches to date.
They have also won their last seven league fixtures home and away, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas keeping clean sheets in the last six.
However, they did lose 1-0 at home to Real Mallorca recently, a result which saw the Spanish champions dumped out of the Copa del Rey.
``Clearly I would like to score and more so against Real Madrid, who have a goalkeeper who has not been beaten in a long time and this is especially motivating,'' added Nihat, who has netted 11 league goals this season.
Although his side are seven points clear of second-placed Barca, and 12 above Villarreal, Real coach Schuster insists they will not be treating Manuel Pellegrini's team lightly on Sunday.
``We have a lot of respect for them, because they deserve it as they are one of the three or four teams in the league who have been playing very good football,'' he said.
``Their coach wants a team who plays football. It will be a very good game, we know how strong we are in our stadium and we want to continue without letting any points escape from us at the Bernabeu.''
Schuster welcomes back Arjen Robben, Christoph Metzelder and Javier Balboa after injury, but Pepe, Gabriel Heinze and Javier Saviola are all unfit, while Mahamadou Diarra is at the African Nations Cup and Roberto Soldado has been omitted.
For Villarreal, Fabricio Fuentes is out for the rest of the season, while Matias Fernandez is also injured.
However, Guillermo Franco is available again while Javi Venta and Gonzalo Rodriguez both return after sitting out the goalless Copa del Rey draw with Barcelona on Thursday.