Villarreal boss Juan Carlos Garrido believes his side can win this year’s Europa League title.Garrido’s side host Twente in the first leg of a quarter-final on Thursday, with the match pitting the third placed side in La Liga against the Eredivisie table-toppers.

Villarreal have been in terrific form in this year’s competition, disposing of Napoli and Bayer Leverkusen in the last two rounds and Garrido is hopeful their form will continue.

“We’re strong enough to achieve success here, so I’ve asked my players to do their best to win this competition,” Garrido said.

“It’s easy to say, but we’re demanding our utmost in an attempt to win a trophy.”

“The match will be very balanced and close, it’ll be decided by small details. Everyone is very motivated, everyone knows the importance of this game and we’re looking for a positive outcome from the first leg.”

“We’re facing a great team that’s first in the Dutch league and in great form. We respect them and we know their qualities.”

Villarreal midfielder Borja Valero feels his side should qualify from the tie, but is wary of what to expect from their Dutch opponents.

“We have full confidence that we’ll qualify,” Valero said.

“Our belief is the same as it would be if we were playing Milan. We’re focused on giving everything and getting into the semi-finals.”

“We expect a tough, complicated match, where hopefully we’ll get a positive result and score without conceding.”

“The Dutch style is all about good football, with lots of touches on the ball and movement. It’ll be difficult to control play, but we’ll try to impose our brand of football.”

Twente are also well aware of what their opponents can produce, with defender Douglas dubbing the Spaniards as favourites as the build-up to the match continues.

“Villarreal are the favourites. They’re a big club who’ve been playing on the European stage for 10 years,” Douglas said.

“I’ve seen Villarreal a couple of times and they play the same style as Barcelona. They try to find solutions through good football. Their two strikers (Giuseppe) Rossi and Nilmar are especially dangerous and we’ll have to watch them closely.”

“Villarreal have very good players. They’re almost all internationals, with a few exceptions. But we also have quality. We try to play football and we’re not afraid of anyone.”

Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio said he is still hopeful his side can qualify for next season’s Europa League.Juve are unbeaten in five matches and are seventh in Serie A.

With Udinese and Roma occupying the two Europa League spots ahead of them in fifth and sixth respectively, Juventus’ hopes appear to be out of their hands as they prepare for Saturday’s league game against Catania, according to Marchisio.

“(Our) last month was positive. We had three wins and a draw, some good performances and we gained some points,” the midfielder said.

“Now we need to focus on the last five games, but we can’t just focus on our own games, we need to look at the games that other teams will play. We still hope that something will happen.”

“The important thing is to continue like that, both from a mental and a physical point of view, because we have done very well. We didn’t make the same mistakes as we did in the game against Roma, so we need to continue that way.”

Marchisio blamed his side’s early form in the campaign for their struggle to reach Europe’s second tier competition, and leave them all but out of contention for next term’s Champions League.

“We missed some chances earlier in the season, not recently. It’s wasn’t the draw against Fiorentina that ended our hopes, but now we know there will be two important games, the one on Saturday against Catania in particular. If we win that game we can prepare well for the game against Roma, while Lazio will play against Inter Milan, so we will see,” he said.

“It’s important to continue like this and to try to gain three points, then we’ll go to Rome and hope for something.”

“Apart from the draws, we don’t need to consider all the missed opportunities. The last two are enough – the games against Lecce and Bologna. If we had won those two games we would have had six points more and we would have had the same points as Lazio now.”

“We cannot think like that now, the only thing we can do is try to win on Saturday and then go to Rome and see how it goes there.”

Inter Milan boss Leonardo said his side are still alive in the Serie A title race after their dramatic 2-1 win at Cesena.Inter trailed 1-0 after 90 minutes but an injury-time brace to Giampaolo Pazzini helped them secure a remarkable win and trim AC Milan’s lead to five points, although the league leaders have a game in hand.

Leonardo said he would be focusing on Inter’s own game as the season draws to a close, and would concentrate on securing maximum points from their three remaining fixtures.

“We are only focusing on ourselves,” Leonardo said.

“We want to maintain second place and enter the Champions League directly, without forgetting we also have the Coppa Italia semi-final (against Roma). As for the title, anything can happen and we’re still up there.”

Leonardo said he was still haunted by a three-day period in early April, when his side were humiliated by AC Milan 3-0 in the league before being routed 5-2 at home by Schalke in the Champions League, a defeat that led to them being eliminated from the tournament.

“It was tough today (against Cesena), above all psychologically, but the lads were great. I just have regrets over that cursed week, as going out of the Champions League really hurt us after a strange game with Schalke,” Leonardo said.

“This squad won the treble last season, but despite it all, we were still close to winning it all again. Unfortunately, that week ruined everything.”

The Brazilian was full of praise for Cesena, and joked that the late goals to Pazzini had been part of his plan.

“Oh that was all carefully planned out,” he said of the comeback.

“The truth is Cesena defended well and we were too slow, especially in attack. Nobody can deny we are a little fatigued after playing so many games. We conceded during a good spell of Cesena pressure, then everything changed when Pazzini came on.”

Wigan Athletic continued their run of never having lost a Premier League game at Villa Park after a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.Starting the day in the bottom three, Wigan drew first blood in the 10th minute with a clinical finish from Charles N’Zogbia.

The Frenchman powered the ball low into the corner after Victor Moses did well to skip the challenge of Richard Dunne and lay the ball in down the left channel.

But Villa were level seven minutes later through England man Ashley Young.

The midfielder won a free kick 25 yards from goal, and with an assist by Stiliyan Petrov curled the ball low around the wall and into the corner of the net.

Emile Heskey almost made it two, setting himself up to volley in from seven yards out, but a brilliant reaction save from Ali Al Habsi denied him.

But Heskey was lucky to stay on the pitch on 33 minutes. When not awarded a free kick by referee Mike Jones, the striker sprinted to complain barging the referee in the process. He was lucky to only escape with a yellow card.

It lead to assistant manager Gary McAllister substituting him at half time.

Tempers flared once more when Jones correctly denied Ashley Young a penalty, and within 30 seconds he was in the action again, awarding an advantage to Villa but blocking the pass to inadvertently present an opening for Wigan.

Both sides had chances in the second half, but in truth there was little of the spirit shown in the first.

Wigan’s Moses brought a save from Brad Friedel and Hugo Rodallega shot inches wide after a clever turn in the box.

Villa’s Darren Bent had the best opportunity to win it with seven minutes to go. He was put in by Ashley Young with a clear run on goal, but his effort was well saved by the legs of Al Habsi.

Brest earned a point in their Ligue 1 relegation fight and struck a blow to Lyon’s Champions League hopes, as the sides drew 1-1 on Monday.Lyon – sitting third in the French top flight – are just two points clear of fourth-placed Paris Saint-Germain, with the Parisians holding a game in hand in the quest for a top-three spot and subsequent Champions League berth.

Brest saw out their fifth draw in six, but had to fight back from a deficit after Ederson headed home a Miralem Pjanic cross on the quarter-hour mark for the visitors at Stade Francis-Le Ble.

Lyon were on target to increase the gap on PSG to four points, before Brest’s Czech substitute Mario Licka scored in the 76th minute.

Just six minutes after gracing the field, the midfielder fired home a strike from outside the area after being put through by Nolan Roux.

The point helped Brest move two points clear of the drop zone and into 15th on the table.

Two weeks later, with the stardust having settled and the rush of excitement having subsided, I can say it with a clear mind. Barcelona’s performance against Manchester United at Wembley last month was the single greatest footballing display I have witnessed in more than half a century of playing and watching the game. I know us former pros are supposed to tell you that things were better in our day – but no old cynic could have been unmoved by the shimmering brilliance of that Champions League final display. In fact, it was almost a shame that United did score their own, wonderfully-executed goal through Wayne Rooney, otherwise we really might have been talking about perfection from Barca.

As a young pro with Chelsea, I watched Real Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 at Hampden Park in what I’d always regarded as the best game of football I’d ever seen. Until last weekend. That Real side, including greats like Alfredo di Stefano, Ferenc Puskas and Gento, were winning their fifth successive European Cup, while Eintracht, of whom we’d heard little, played their full part in an epic match. I am privileged to say I played in two genuinely great teams – England’s 1966 team and the Tottenham side of the early 1960s, which won the Double just before I arrived and then became the first British side to win a European trophy.

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I also played against the great Benfica side of Eusebio and twice against Brazil at their finest. First, in the 1962 World Cup quarter-final in Chile, in the year when the great Garrincha – the Lionel Messi of his day – won the World Cup almost single-handed. Seriously talented players such as Didi and Vava would do nothing more than get the ball and give it to Garrincha, he really was that good. Then two years later, when Pele inspired them to a 5-1 victory over England in the Maracana. That day I made the huge mistake of scoring, thus making the Brazilians angry!

I also ‘enjoyed’ many encounters with the Manchester United side of George Best, Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, then witnessed the wonderful Ajax and Netherlands teams of the 1970s.So you understand where I’m coming from – I’ve seen a fair bit of damned good football down the years. And yet Barcelona were better than any of those great sides. Their passing and movement was from another planet. It is phenomenal to think that Messi should produce one of THE great individual displays, in the middle of one of THE great team performances. You could not even say that United had got their tactics wrong or made any glaring individual errors. They were simply outclassed.

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Comparing individual players from different eras is impossible. So all I can say is that Messi ranks alongside the very best – Pele, Best, Garrincha, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, the man who set this great Barcelona era in motion. Barca’s third goal, with Messi’s mesmerising skill and David Villa’s magnificent finish, brought the house down. But for me the image of about 40 Barcelona players and backroom staff performing a ring-a-roses around the Wembley centre circle was just as striking.

As an ex-pro, these are the sort of things you look out for. It looked like this was such an incredibly united bunch of people, with an unbreakable team spirit, and no matter how gifted you are, you don’t reach the sort of level Barcelona have without that kind of unity. I don’t tend to watch football with starry eyes and I’m too long in the tooth to indulge in hype and hyperbole. So please understand that you were privileged to witness Barcelona last month. I don’t believe you will ever see anything better.

Corinthians recovered from an early shock to defeat Vasco da Gama 2-1 on Wednesday, holding on to their three-point lead in Brazil Serie A.Veteran midfielder Juninho Pernambucano turned back the clock in his first appearance for Vasco in 10 years, scoring from a free-kick in the second minute to the delight of the away fans.

But their joy would be short-lived as Corinthians midfielder Ralf found the net in the 22nd minute, blasting a long-range effort from a rebound for his first goal since May 2010.

Corinthians were in no mood to take an evenly balanced game into the break and kept pressing for a second goal, which they eventually found in the 42nd minute off the boot of Paulinho.

The midfielder gathered the ball at the edge of the area, dribbled around a defender and shot inside the far post to put the hosts ahead.

They were lucky to hold that margin at half-time, though, as Corinthians goalkeeper Julio Cesar pulled out a magnificent save to deny another trademark free kick from former Lyon and Brazil midfielder Juninho.

In spite of their best efforts, the Copa do Brasil winners could not find an equaliser and slumped to back-to-back losses for the first time this campaign.

They fall to 10th on the Serie A table with 11 points from eight matches. Corinthians, meanwhile, have a new challenger to their throne as Sao Paulo fell 1-0 at Flamengo.

Dario Bottinelli was the hero, with the Flamengo midfielder finding the net in the 71st minute to ensure his club would replace Sao Paulo in second.

Flamengo have taken full points in their last three matches and are yet to lose this campaign, a feat only seconded by Corinthians.

After a promising start, Sao Paulo have now lost their past three to fall four points behind Corinthians in third place.

Fourth-placed Internacional have drawn level on points with Sao Paulo following their third win in a row, this time with a 1-0 result over bottom-placed Atletico Paranaense.

Continuing their winning run, 19-year-old midfielder Oscar scored for his third-straight game to hand Inter the win over Paranaense, who are anchored to the bottom of the table with seven losses from eight games.

Second-bottom Avai continued their slow crawl towards safety with a 2-2 draw at home to Bahia, while Gremio’s up-and-down fortunes continued with a 2-0 loss at Cruzeiro and Ceara toppled Atletico Mineiro 3-0.

Luis Suarez had looked lacklustre during the early stages of the Copa America but picked his form up to fire Uruguay into the final, with two characteristic finishes. He is now joint top of the scoring charts in the competition, and on the brink of becoming a national hero

Whilst his form in the Copa America will delight Liverpool fans, the result of his actions may not, as it delays his return to England even further. His efforts mean the earliest he will now return to the UK is just three weeks before Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Sunderland.

Suarez wasted little time in establishing himself as an Anfield favourite with a series of glorious performances after joining in January and was pivotal to the red’s turn around in fortunes last season. Should he bring success to his country, he will return to Merseyside brimming with confidence, but there is a small cause for concern over his long-term fitness.

After an intense summer, having played eight games for the national side, it is likely that Kenny Dalglish will want Suarez to have some rest and recovery time, which could push his return to Merseyside back even further, throwing his participation in the seasons opener into doubt.

The worry for Liverpool is that he will return jaded-both physically and mentally-after a summer without much time off. Lucas Leiva is another who has been in action at the tournament and will also return to Liverpool late. This shouldn’t worry Liverpool too much as they do have much better strength in depth than previous years, so should be able to cope should Suarez and Lucas not be fit for the opener. They will certainly not want to rush either player back and risk potential injuries or burnout in the long run.

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Suarez wouldn’t be the first to struggle after a heavy summer of matches. Javier Mascherano had a bad start to 2009 after returning from Argentina duty, and struggled for form in a Liverpool shirt for a while, complaining of tiredness, although he also wanted a move away from the red’s which probably affected his form as well.

It will be a long season for Suarez and Liverpool will want to look after their prize possession, to ensure they can get the best out of him. If that means giving him some time off at the start of the season to rest and recuperate and ensure he is in the best shape possible to face the vital season ahead, then surely that is what they will do.

According to the Mirror, Aston Villa have given Charles N’Zogbia a transfer ultimatum as the winger continues to stall over a move to Villa Park.

Villa boss Alex McLeish has made the Wigan Athletic winger his top transfer target after losing Stewart Downing to Liverpool.

The Scot met the £10 million asking price but the Frenchman continues to drag his feet over joining the Midlands outfit.

Villa are offering N’Zogbia £50,000 and McLeish is fears he may be getting messed around by the player for the second summer in a row.

McLeish wants to get the deal done and dusted before flying out to Hong Kong with the squad on Saturday, but both N’Zogbia and Wigan are seemingly holding out for more lucrative offers.

The events are unfolding in a similar fashion to last summer, when McLeish was Birmingham City boss, with the deal collapsing at the 11th hour Aston Villa have told the winger to make up his mind.

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The club have already started looking at alternatives should N’Zogbia decide a move to Villa Park isn’t for him.

During the long summer months, the big four have been going about strengthening their side for the upcoming season but have a quick look at teams outside the top four and you will notice a distinct lack of summer transfers. Are these teams suffering in the transfer market because they cannot get shot of the unwanted players at their club?

A perfect example of a team in this situation is at Tottenham whose only summer capture has been 40-year-old Brad Friedel on a free transfer from Aston Villa. They have numerous players who are unwanted by the club but they have had no success in trying to offload many of them with only one high paid payer Jonathan Woodgate being released in the summer.

They must trim the side in order to fit in with the Premier League’s 25-man squad limit and while Daniel Levy is commanding large transfer fees for these unwanted players it is easy to see why they have not been able to offload them. David Bentley has three years left on his contract at White Hart Lane and Levy is asking for a huge transfer fee or large loan fee for the unwanted winger.

Niko Kranjcar, Jermaine Jenas, Peter Crouch and Alan Hutton all seem to be unwanted by Redknapp for the new season but until Levy drops his asking price it is unlikely that the club will move these players on especially when large wages are involved. After they are excluded from the 25-man squad announced soon the players may realise their future lies away from White Hart Lane and then Spurs could get rid of them.

Redknapp is anxious before the end of the transfer window to secure a world-class centre-forward who would give him the option of playing either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. However Levy’s wage ceiling of £75,000-a-week is preventing such a transfer occurring as big name players can get more than double that at Manchester City and the like. This ceiling while financially viable is actually preventing Spurs from becoming a genuine top-four club as the quality they require will not arrive for these sort of wages. I think they got very lucky with the Van Der Vaart deal and unless Redknapp can pull a similar deal out it could be a hard battle to reach fourth place.

Redknapp knows he has to get rid of these players before he can bring fresh blood into the team but thus far he has not managed to get any of them off the wage bill, so he has not been able to strengthen his team. Without Levy reducing the asking price of these unwanted players it is unlikely that they create the space for new players who would represent value for the club.

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One option that Harry may look into is to include these players as part of a transfer to bring players into the club as this would kill two birds with one stone by getting them off the wage bill while also bringing in new talent to the club.

It looks today that Robbie Keane will be soon off the wages with striker set to join LA Galaxy but this is just one of the many players the club must clear out before they can strengthen.

Unless Redknapp can find a solution to this problem, it is doubtful whether or not he would be able to bring in the players he wants in this transfer window. Wouldn’t it be wise to sell players like Hutton and Jenas at a reduced price to remove their wage bull while generating transfer fees that could be used to sign new players? Until Levy sees this the club may be stuck with unwanted squad players and no new signings.

Let me know your thoughts, is Levy holding back the club or is it the right policy to under-take?

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