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Bayern aim to finish the job against Villarreal

Group A leaders FC Bayern München will look to wrap up qualification for the knockout phase with a home victory against a Villarreal CF side suffering their worst run of European form.

Toni Kroos (centre) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of Bayern's 2011/12 campaign at El Madrigal
Toni Kroos (centre) celebrates after scoring the opening goal of Bayern's 2011/12 campaign at El Madrigal ©Getty Images

FC Bayern München host Group A's bottom side Villarreal CF on matchday five looking to wrap up qualification for the last 16 for the fourth year running.

• Bayern lead the group by three points from Manchester City FC and will secure their progress with victory. If they should win and City fail to beat SSC Napoli in the section's other fixture, the Bavarian side would tie up first place too.

• Bayern won the sides' first encounter 2-0 at El Madrigal on matchday one and after another three defeats, Villarreal's UEFA Champions League elimination is already sealed. That said, a win for the Spanish side would at least rekindle their hopes of sneaking into third place, should Napoli not beat City.

Match background
• Bayern have won ten of their last 11 UEFA Champions League home outings, including successes against FC Zürich, City and Napoli this season.

• Bayern also have an excellent home record against Spanish opposition, which reads W11 D5 L1. Their solitary defeat was a 3-2 reverse against RC Deportivo La Coruña in the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League first group stage in which Roy Makaay – a future Bayern striker – hit a hat-trick.

• Jupp Heynckes, Bayern's coach, will need no reminding of Villarreal's most recent visit to Germany when a 94th-minute Nilmar goal consigned his former club, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, to a 3-2 defeat in the first leg of last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16. Villarreal finished 5-3 aggregate winners.

• Villarreal's overall record in Germany is W2 D0 L1.

• With four straight defeats, the Spanish side are on the worst run of form in their nine-year European history. They have also lost their last four away matches in UEFA club competition.

• Bayern twice overcame Spanish opposition in European Cup finals, beating Club Atlético de Madrid after a replay in 1973/74 and Valencia CF on penalties in 2000/01.

Team ties
• Bayern coach Heynckes won the UEFA Champions League in his solitary season at the Real Madrid CF helm in 1997/98 and also had spells as coach at Athletic Club (1992-94 and 2000-03) and CD Tenerife (1996/97). He failed to beat Villarreal in four attempts with Athletic.

• Last season's UEFA Europa League defeat against Villarreal maintained Heynckes' unhappy record of having never beaten Spanish opposition in two-legged European ties as a coach. His four defeats include a 7-0 reverse at RC Celta de Vigo with SL Benfica in the 1999/2000 UEFA Cup and an incredible 1985/86 UEFA Cup tie with VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach where his side beat Real Madrid 5-1 at home but still lost on away goals.

• As a Mönchengladbach player, Heynckes hit four goals in a 9-2 aggregate victory against Real Zaragoza in the 1974/75 UEFA Cup, but in the following season's European Cup scored against Madrid yet lost on away goals.

• Marcos Senna was in the Spain team that defeated a Germany side including Mario Gomez, Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger in the UEFA EURO 2008 final.

• Jérôme Boateng, Toni Kroos and Manuel Neuer had joined Gomez, Lahm and Schweinsteiger in the Nationalmannschaft by the time they faced Spain again in the 2010 FIFA World Cup semi-finals. Germany lost 1-0 once more to opponents who fielded Carlos Marchena as a substitute.

• Arjen Robben hit a spectacular solo goal to earn Real Madrid a 1-0 home win against Villarreal in January 2009.

• Cristián Zapata was in the Udinese Calcio team that defeated Anatoliy Tymoshchuk's FC Zenit St Petersburg in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup round of 16, ending the Russian side's trophy defence.

• The previous season, Tymoshchuk had helped Zenit beat a Villarreal side including Diego López, Gonzalo Rodríguez, Cani, Bruno Soriano, Ángel López, Senna and Giuseppe Rossi in the round of 32.

• Franck Ribéry scored France's penalty winner when they beat Zapata's Colombia 1-0 in a June 2008 friendly.

• Marchena lined up against Neuer and Rafinha when his Valencia side won 1-0 at FC Schalke 04 in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League group stage.

• The injured Rossi hit Italy's equaliser past Neuer in a 1-1 friendly draw with Germany in Dortmund in February.

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