´We play to win´ – Leverkusen will not focus on other results in Champions League push

Kasper Hjulmand insists Bayer Leverkusen are worrying only about elements they can control ahead of facing Villarreal in the Champions League.

Leverkusen go into Wednesday’s game knowing a win will be enough to see them progress into the knockout stage play-offs.

They sit in 20th place, so a defeat could well see them drop out of the play-off spots, should results elsewhere go against them.

Hjulmand, though, was adamant that Leverkusen would not be focusing on other results.

“It’s a really important game for us, we want to progress to the next round. That’s our very clear goal,” he said.

“Should it be necessary, we will, of course, have the scores from the other games on the bench in the final phase of the game.

“But we play to win, that’s our mentality. That’s how we’ll go into tomorrow’s game.”

Thoughts from @Lucasvazquez91 ahead of our UCL final league phase game! pic.twitter.com/NVEIG5fKVV

— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) January 27, 2026

Hjulmand is winless in all six home Champions League matches (D1 L2 with FC Nordsjaelland, D2 L1 with Leverkusen) and has conceded 20 goals in those six games, an average of 3.3 per game.

Only Mustafa Denizli, Jindrich Trpisovsky and Vladimír Weiss have managed more home games without winning (seven each) than Hjulmand.

Villarreal, meanwhile, are the only Spanish team to play as many as seven games (D1 L6) in a European Cup/Champions League campaign and not win any of them.

However, they are enjoying a good season in LaLiga, and Leverkusen’s Lucas Vazquez is expecting a stern test.

“They are having a great season in La Liga. Their team and players are very strong. They will come here to cause us problems,” said the former Real Madrid man.

“We are very well prepared for tomorrow and for the coming weeks. We are very keen to win the next few games, which are very important for the club.

“We have a great team and can achieve a lot together if we continue to work hard.”