Villarreal vs Real Madrid - Soldado looks to turn up heat on Real Madrid

Villarreal forward Roberto Soldado is looking to hit the goal trail and increase the pressure on Rafael Benitez and former club Real Madrid.

The 30-year-old Spain international came through the ranks at Real before moving on but will come up against them on Sunday knowing a win would take his current side to within three points of Benitez's men.

Madrid are currently third in the Primera Division, four points behind leaders Barcelona and two adrift of city rivals Atletico - who were beaten by Villarreal earlier in the season - and Benitez has had to face the wrath of supporters and reported player unrest.

And now Soldado, who has scored just twice in the league since he joined in the summer from Tottenham, is looking to get back on the scoresheet for the first time since August having become accustomed to laying on the goals for his team-mates.

"It's a special game because most of my career I trained there," he told Villarreal's website.

"I will always be eternally grateful to Real Madrid because it formed me as a person and a player. We will try to create problems in our own stadium and hopefully will see the best Villarreal have.

"I would much rather get the goals than give them but I'm fine. Providing assists is not entirely my work, but anything that helps the team is fine. What I want is to score goals.

"When we have been a great team at El Madrigal we have always managed to win this season. It happened against Sevilla, Atletico and Athletic. Sure things will difficult, but we have to be strong defensively."

Real go into the game on the back of a 8-0 Champions League hammering of Swedish side Malmo - but even before that fixture, with progression into the knock-out stages already secured - Benitez was casting an eye forward to the tricky trip to eastern Spain.

"We must respect Malmo, but it will not be a normal game - we must not lose sight of the match with Villarreal," he said in the build-up to Tuesday's game.

"There will be rotations but always play with the idea of b b winning. We want to keep winning and alternating players to get in the best possible condition for the match at Villarreal. "

Despite prioritising the league fixture, Benitez will have been happy to see his side claim such a convincing victory and will now be hoping the fresh players will make it a perfect week for the Bernabeu club.