The former Arsenal midfielder believes his side have improved ahead of this week’s Europa League match in Scotland
Santi Cazorla says Villarreal are back to their best ahead of this week’s Europa League match against Rangers.
The Spanish side won their first league match since September this past weekend, topping Real Betis 2-1 to move out of the relegation zone.
With just two matches remaining in their Europa League group, Villarreal sit top with six points ahead of Spartak Moscow and Rangers.
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Depending on results elsewhere, victory in Scotland could guarantee Villarreal qualification to the next phase and the former Arsenal star believes his side has what it takes to claim all three points.
“We hope that this victory [against Betis] will be a turning point for our season,” Cazorla said.
“We just had to beat Betis. There could be no more excuses. And I think for almost the first time this season, certainly in the league, we played a complete match for 90 minutes.
“I felt we approached our best form and the important thing now is to keep the momentum going with a win in Glasgow.
“We have set our standards and we have to keep them up in the Europa League now.”
Forward Gerard Moreno echoed Cazorla’s comments having finally escaped his goalscoring drought with his second league goal of the season over the weekend.
“When a striker does not score, it eats up inside his head. You become too eager to score,” he said.
“Now that I have finally scored again I can relax. As soon a the final whistle sounded, I turned my attention to Glasgow and what will be a very difficult game against Rangers.
“The whole club needed that win. The players, coaching staff and fans. We have a chance to take a huge step towards qualification on Thursday if we can win in Glasgow.
“If we play like we did against Betis, we are capable of getting the right result in Scotland.”
Villarreal earned a point from the 2-2 draw with Rangers in Spain in the club’s first group-stage clash.
The Spanish club will finish off the group phase against Spartak Moscow on December 13.