Juanlu revels in Osasuna success

The prospect of a semi-final against UEFA Cup holders Sevilla FC may be exciting Pamplona's football supporters, but the CA Osasuna players remain intent on savouring a 4-0 aggregate victory over Bayer 04 Leverkusen.

Time to celebrate
The two-leg total makes the tie seem a mismatch but Juanlu Gómez, who scored the only goal in last night's home return, wanted to celebrate Osasuna's achievement before preparing mentally for the Sevilla showdown. "We drew on a lot of pride and determination to achieve this scoreline," the 26-year-old midfielder explained.

Mission accomplished
"Despite the 3-0 advantage we decided to play a high-pressure game, to break well on the counterattack when we had the chance, and we very nearly killed it all off within five minutes," he added. "OK, so we didn't take that chance but if you look at the fact we won 1-0, kept a clean sheet and gave our fans a victory then you can say we achieved our objective." For Juanlu, the fact Bundesliga opponents Leverkusen were eventually well beaten can serve as inspiration for the last-four contest against Primera División rivals Sevilla. "This team were once UEFA Champions League finalists - they are a big European name and a final result of 4-0 was well deserved," he underlined.

Total determination
"I feel some personal satisfaction but my main pride is for the club and the city which is behind us," Juanlu went on. "I guess some will think that Osasuna won't go through against Sevilla, but even if the tie means a big effort and a massive struggle for us, I know this team will give absolutely everything to get through to the final." The theme was picked up and augmented by goalkeeper Ricardo López. "We should take from this match the fact we were able to impose our tempo just as we intended," he said. "Now the semi-final brings us Sevilla and they are a super team. It will be difficult but I regard it as a good test for us and a way for us to discover how good we really are."