Pau Torres has stressed Aston Villa’s focus ahead of Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final first leg against LOSC Lille.
Villa head into the club’s first major European last-eight tie for 26 years since reaching the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup in 1998.
The eagerly-anticipated encounter, which comes ahead of Sunday’s Premier League trip to Arsenal, comes on the back of a 4-0 triumph over Ajax in the round of 16.
And centre-back Torres knows Villa need a positive result in the first leg to take to Lille next week.
“It’s a really important week for us,” said Torres at Wednesday’s pre-match media conference.
“Firstly, with this amazing game in Europe and we are going game to game.
“We are very focused on tomorrow, we know the difficulty of the game.
“Europe is always difficult and we need to start well in the first leg, in our home with our supporters.
“So, we’re really focused on tomorrow, we know it will be difficult and we need to get a good result to then go to France with opportunities.”
Lille are enjoying a positive campaign and currently sit fourth in Ligue 1, four points off second-placed Brest.
Paulo Fonseca’s side are unbeaten in seven and reached the quarter-finals courtesy of a 4-1 aggregate victory over Sturm Graz, having topped Group A.
And Torres is expecting a tough test at Villa Park.
“They are a really good team, fourth, I think, in their league,” he said.
“They have young players and experienced players, with a good manager as well.
“They have a good idea of football and we are waiting for them at home, we need to be strong and we need to keep our idea during the game."
