With SSC Napoli behind us, here is another Europa League installment of "By the Numbers". We turn our attention now to Bayer 04 Leverkusen, which qualified for this competition by finishing 4th in the German 1. Bundesliga.
Team overviews:
Bayer 04 Leverkusen:
- 25 matches played (out of 34); 53(!!) goals scored, 34 conceded, +19 GD.
- 49 points, 2nd place in 1. Bundesliga; 12(!!) points behind runaway leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Villarreal CF:
- 27 matches played (out of 38); 46 goals scored, 29 conceded, +17 GD.
- 50 points, 4th place in La Liga; 24(!!) points behind runaway leaders FC Barcelona.
Individual statistics (in league play):
Bayer 04 Leverkusen:
- MF Arturo Vidal (Chile): 9 goals, 8 assists
- The danger-man: tops on the club in both categories.
- MF Renato Augusto (Brazil): 6 goals, 2 assists
- Started with Flamengo (Brazil); recent full international.
- MF Sidney Sam (Germany): 6 goals, 2 assists
- Started with Hamburger SV (Germany); an up-and-coming star.
- D Gonzalo Castro (Germany): 3 goals, 8 assists
- Chose Germany over Spain; won European U-21 Championship (2009).
- 2 players tied with 5 goals: MF Simon Rolfes, F Stefan Kießling (both from Germany)
- GK René Adler (Germany): 63 saves, 32 goals conceded, .663 save percentage
- 10 caps for national team; missed South Africa 2010 due to injury.
Villarreal CF:
- F Giuseppe Rossi (Italy): 14 goals, 5 assists
- F Nilmar (Brazil): 11 goals, 3 assists
- MF Santi Cazorla (Spain): 5 goals, 8 assists
- MF Borja Valero (Spain): 3 goals, 7 assists
- GK Diego López (Spain): 75 saves, 29 goals conceded, .721(!!) save percentage
- In ice hockey, .900 is the baseline. Over .700 is excellent in fútbol, I would imagine. A statistical reminder that López is having a great season.
- For reference, Iker Casillas is at .714 (50 saves, 20 goals conceded). But Victor Valdés has posted an astounding .815 (53 saves, 12(!!!) goals conceded).
Scoring statistics (in league play):
Bayer 04 Leverkusen:
- 6-4-3 at home (7th-best in 1. Bundesliga); 8-3-1 away (2nd).
- Beware of the return leg, even if we obtain a positive result in Leverkusen.
- Has outscored league opponents 24-11 in the final 30 minutes.
- Longest unbeaten streak: 8 matches (5-3-0)
- No losing months this season.
Villarreal CF:
- 11-2-1 at home (3rd-best in La Liga); 4-3-6 away (4th).
- Shocking: for all of our road woes, only the teams ahead of us overall are better.
- Has outscored league opponents 29-13 in the first half.
- Longest unbeaten streak: 9 matches (7-2-0)
- 2 losing months: August (lost only match), February (winless in 4 matches)
Another tie that could have come one round later in the competition. Expect Die Werkself (the "Factory Squad", yikes) to come out firing at the 30,000-seat BayArena on Thursday evening, despite their somewhat indifferent home form. Look for a tight matchup over the 180 minutes (or more). Endavant Villarreal!