Porto, Villarreal and Benfica are well placed to advance to the semi-finals as Iberian sides seek to tighten their stranglehold on the Europa League Thursday.Spain's Villarreal thrashed Dutch champions FC Twente 5-1 at home last week, while Portugal's Porto go to
Spartak Moscow for their quarter-final second leg leading by the same scoreline following a hat-trick by competition top scorer Radamel Falcao.
Porto and Villareal will meet in the last four if they complete aggregate victories, while an all-Portuguese duel beckons for the other semi-final.
Benfica enjoy a 4-1 cushion over PSV Eindhoven for the trip to the Netherlands and could come up against Sporting Braga who greet Dynamo Kiev following a 1-1 draw in Ukraine.
Villarreal were in charge against Twente on their own ground, but were off-key on Sunday in a 5-0 defeat at local rivals Valencia, their heaviest defeat in eight years.
"You have to learn from defeats like that one," midfielder Borja Valero said. "Luckily, we have to go forward. We have to think about something else, without crying too much about this.
"We are ready for the game against Twente, and I am sure we will play a good match there and clinch qualification. I am sure that they (Twente) will be fired up after seeing what happened to us (in Valencia), but we are going to do our best so that that does not happen again."
Villarreal have never won a major trophy in their modest history. They reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006 and of the old UEFA Cup in 2004, but were edged out of the final on both occasions.
They will be without injury victims Marcos Senna, Angel Lopez and Gonzalo Rodriguez. In addition, Santi Cazorla and Nilmar are suspended after picking up their third yellow cards in the first leg.
The good news for coach Juan Carlos Garrido is that playmaker Cani is fit again and ready to return.
Spartak Moscow coach Valery Karpin is looking for an improved display from his side against Porto but the odds are in favour of the two-time European champions advancing.
Like Twente, fellow Dutch side PSV have an uphill task as they seek to reverse a 4-1 defeat to Benfica, conceding a last-minute goal which may yet prove crucial.
However goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson believes PSV will be a different proposition at home after the disappointing display by Fred Rutten's side last week.
"We had some problems and we defended poorly, I think," he told UEFA.com. "We were not all 100 per cent."
He added: "We need to prove we can play better and to put pressure on them. We need to do our best. It's not an easy outcome (going into) the second game but we still have a chance, and we're going to fight for it."
Sporting Braga have a slight advantage over visiting Dynamo Kiev after last week's 1-1 draw, but the Ukrainians had the better of the exchanges and played with 10 men for the last 30 minutes after the dismissal of half-time substitute Andriy Shevchenko
Spartak Moscow for their quarter-final second leg leading by the same scoreline following a hat-trick by competition top scorer Radamel Falcao.
Porto and Villareal will meet in the last four if they complete aggregate victories, while an all-Portuguese duel beckons for the other semi-final.
Benfica enjoy a 4-1 cushion over PSV Eindhoven for the trip to the Netherlands and could come up against Sporting Braga who greet Dynamo Kiev following a 1-1 draw in Ukraine.
Villarreal were in charge against Twente on their own ground, but were off-key on Sunday in a 5-0 defeat at local rivals Valencia, their heaviest defeat in eight years.
"You have to learn from defeats like that one," midfielder Borja Valero said. "Luckily, we have to go forward. We have to think about something else, without crying too much about this.
"We are ready for the game against Twente, and I am sure we will play a good match there and clinch qualification. I am sure that they (Twente) will be fired up after seeing what happened to us (in Valencia), but we are going to do our best so that that does not happen again."
Villarreal have never won a major trophy in their modest history. They reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2006 and of the old UEFA Cup in 2004, but were edged out of the final on both occasions.
They will be without injury victims Marcos Senna, Angel Lopez and Gonzalo Rodriguez. In addition, Santi Cazorla and Nilmar are suspended after picking up their third yellow cards in the first leg.
The good news for coach Juan Carlos Garrido is that playmaker Cani is fit again and ready to return.
Spartak Moscow coach Valery Karpin is looking for an improved display from his side against Porto but the odds are in favour of the two-time European champions advancing.
Like Twente, fellow Dutch side PSV have an uphill task as they seek to reverse a 4-1 defeat to Benfica, conceding a last-minute goal which may yet prove crucial.
However goalkeeper Andreas Isaksson believes PSV will be a different proposition at home after the disappointing display by Fred Rutten's side last week.
"We had some problems and we defended poorly, I think," he told UEFA.com. "We were not all 100 per cent."
He added: "We need to prove we can play better and to put pressure on them. We need to do our best. It's not an easy outcome (going into) the second game but we still have a chance, and we're going to fight for it."
Sporting Braga have a slight advantage over visiting Dynamo Kiev after last week's 1-1 draw, but the Ukrainians had the better of the exchanges and played with 10 men for the last 30 minutes after the dismissal of half-time substitute Andriy Shevchenko
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