Inter were the pioneers of door-bolt defending back in the 1960s when they excelled at grinding out 1-0 wins, but it is Villarreal who are more likely to adopt such tactics as they attempt to overturn a 2-1 deficit from last week's first leg.

A 1-0 win will be enough to put the Spaniards through to the semi-finals in their debut season in the continent's elite club competition.

In a dress rehearsal for the Inter match they sneaked a 1-0 victory away to a dominant Real Zaragoza on Saturday with their customary mixture of defensive effectiveness and maximum efficiency in front of goal.

Villarreal were on the ropes for much of the game, but came away from Zaragoza with their first win in five league matches thanks to a sweetly struck free kick from midfielder Roger on the stroke of halftime, the team's first shot on goal.

"It was an efficient performance," said coach Manuel Pellegrini. "But football is all about goals and we scored one and hit the post later on.

"Perhaps it was too big a prize for us given how little we got near their goal in the first half, but we played well in the second and didn't give Zaragoza any room to move."

Villarreal have only lost one of 17 European home games and have kept clean sheets in 13, but their victories in the Champions League have always been by the smallest margin.

In attack they will be looking to Uruguay striker Diego Forlan and playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme to tease open the Inter defence, with the help of either former AC Milan forward Jose Mari or Mexico centre-forward Guillermo Franco.

Their back four will need to be at their very best if they are to shackle Inter's pacy front line and the driving runs of defender Javier Zanetti who was man-of-the-match in the first leg.

FIGO WAIT

The Italians, who crushed Villarreal's regional rivals Valencia 5-1 on their last visit to Spain in the Champions League, fielded just one player from the starting XI against Villarreal in Saturday's 3-0 win over Messina.

Coach Roberto Mancini has to wait for news on Portuguese winger Luis Figo who spent Saturday training alone at the club's Appiano Gentile complex.

Last week Mancini used Brazilian Cesar on the left and Serbian Dejan Stankovic in Figo's slot on the right flank but Argentine Santiago Solari made his claim for a place with two goals against Messina.

Inter had little trouble against Messina with all three of their goals coming in the first 26 minutes and Mancini says he wants to see the same positive attitude in Spain.

"We will have to play like we did on Saturday. We know it will be a tough match but we will have to play to win. The main thing is to qualify, but we will go to Spain to impose our game," said the Inter coach.

Solari says he is well aware of the challenge facing Inter.

"They are a very Spanish side -- they like to keep possession and they make the most of their quite small pitch. It will be a very tough game for us," he said.

Internazionale striker Adriano has recovered his confidence but the big question on the minds of the Nerazzurri fans is whether he can deliver when it really matters against Ajax.

Adriano will have an opportunity to answer the sceptics when the Dutch giants travel to the San Siro to decide who will be the final team through to the last eight of the Champions League on Tuesday night.

Crucial away goals from Dejan Stankovic and Julio Cruz in the first leg allowed Inter to come back for a 2-2 draw and the two teams have had to wait an extra week for the return clash as AC Milan, who share the San Siro, were also drawn to play at home in the second leg.

Inter will be looking to follow in the footsteps of their city rivals, who progressed after beating Bayern Munich 4-1 last week, and Serie A leaders Juventus to make it three Italian teams in the last eight.

The Nerazzurri go into the game in high spirits after beating Sampdoria at the weekend, with Adriano claiming the game's only goal with his first strike since January 15.

"I feel much better," said the Brazilian star.

"I hope that I can return to score those goals that are so important for my team to improve this season."

Inter owner Massimo Moratti has certainly seen a big improvement from the 24-year-old and believes he is getting back to his most dangerous form.

"Adriano has trained well and has improved a lot," he said.

"On Saturday, our opponents feared him and he has proved to be the striker that we all know."

An increased output from Adriano will probably be too late to revive Inter's title hopes - they lie 12 points adrift of Juve - but he could still inspire Inter to Champions League glory.

Ajax have been even more inconsistent domestically and are 20 points off the pace so the competition has taken on an added significance for both teams, especially with Champions League debutants Villarreal lying in wait for the winners.

"This is a very important game for us," said Inter coach Roberto Mancini.

"It's going to be an open contest," he added. "We will have to suffer a lot in order to progress."

Inter defender Ivan Cordoba must serve a one-match ban so Marco Matterazzi will come into the centre of defence.

Javier Zanetti is expected to return in place of Nicolas Burdisso at right-back, while Pierre Wome should keep his place on the left after an impressive performance against Samp.

Mancini also welcomes Juan Sebastian Veron back after missing the first leg through injury and Ajax midfielder Mauro Rosales, a goalscorer in Amsterdam, knows his fellow Argentinian will bring something extra to the hosts.

"Inter with Veron is a much better Inter, but I still think we have a chance," he said.

"Inter have an experienced team and you could see that in the home game.

"In the first half they were off their game, but in the second they stretched the game to the flanks and from then the game was in their hands."

Ajax held Dutch leaders PSV Eindhoven to a goalless on Saturday, giving Rosales reason for optimism.

"We must start the first half like we did against Inter and the second like we did against PSV," he added.

"When we play we can play good attacking football, and in Milan, we must trust in that."

Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti sayPizarro has been linked with Fiorentina, but Zanetti insists: "I often speak with David - clearly nobody likes to be outside the team, but he always has behaved in an extremely professional way.

"Unfortunately in his role there are two big players like Cambiasso and Veron, but Veron wants to return to Argentina at the end of the season.

"If that happens, Pizarro will have many more possibilities to play and to demonstrate his value: the future of Inter is him."

s teammate David Pizarro has a long future at the San Siro.

"We're bitterly disappointed about how things went this evening, the match shouldn't have finished in this way," said Javier Zanetti on Inter Channel after the 2-1 defeat to Juventus. "They were luckier than us and won a match that we didn't deserve to lose."

The Inter captain continued: "It wasn't a foul which led to the free kick that decided the game. Nedved dived after Cordoba made the slightest of contact.

"Now we must look ahead and think about the next match, we want to make the best possible finish to this championship. Conclusions are always made at the end of the season, and we're still in the running in other important competitions.

"We're also disappointed for the fans because they didn't deserve this result. We gave everything we had to win this match, we finished the game with our heads held high even if this defeat is very hard to accept."

"We are very pleased to have reached the Coppa Italia semi-finals. It is an important trophy for us and we want to win it," Nerazzurri captain Javier Zanetti said on Inter Channel after Thursday's quarter-final victory over Lazio.

"Those who say it's not important say so because they don't have the right attitude or because they have been knocked out. We must progress in every competition we're in the running for, a team like Inter must have this mentality.

"It was a team victory this evening. And I'm also very pleased about the performance of the young Momentè. It was an important game for him and he did very well. I'm also happy for Solari who played an excellent game, and for Toldo who gave the team security."