Willing Senna undaunted by Panathinaikos

Neither Villarreal CF or Panathinaikos FC seemed too distraught after being drawn together in the first knockout round of the UEFA Champions League.

First meeting
The two sides will meet for the first time in European club competition at El Madrigal on 25 February, and while playing the return match away from home on 10 March could make things uncomfortable for Villarreal, midfield player Marcos Senna felt reasonably positive. "Our manager would have preferred to play the first leg away and the second at home but that's not going to be the case so we have to get on with it," he said.

Time to plan
"We must concentrate on our own game and getting into the next round," noted the Brazilian-born 32-year-old, who was one of Spain's stars of UEFA EURO 2008™. "Not getting through would be a disappointment for us. We're not really up to scratch on Panathinaikos yet but we have a lot of time to analyse them. It's great that we have a couple of months in order to prepare for the game properly. There will be a great atmosphere there but we're used to that sort of pressure."

Fond memories
Panathinaikos's 17 games against Spanish sides have produced three wins, five draws and nine defeats, while both of Villarreal's previous games against Greek opposition have ended in victories, as goalkeeper Diego López recalled. "We remember playing in Greece [against AEK Athens FC] last year in a very beautiful stadium and we won," he said, adding of the Greens: "We can't complain because they aren't one of the strongest teams we could have faced. Having said that they used to playing in Europe and they are going through a great spell and finished as winners of a tough group."

'Strong at home'
Panathinaikos midfielder Giorgos Karagounis felt similarly about Villarreal. "It's not a bad draw for us, but we will have to see what state we are two-and-a-half months from now," he said. "Villarreal are strong at home. We must avoid the errors we made in the past in the knockout stage, because every match is like a final. In recent years, Villarreal have been very consistent in the Spanish league and that speaks volumes about their quality. They have a compact team and have experience, as they made the Champions League semi-finals three seasons ago.

Positive results
However, group-stage wins at Werder Bremen and FC Internazionale Milano have given Henk ten Cate's side reason for optimism, as Karagounis acknowledged. "If we play the way we did against Inter and Werder in our away group matches we can achieve a lot," added the 31-year-old. "Everything depends on our determination, performance and state of readiness."