Villarreal 1 - Spartak Moscow 0

Villarreal: Reina (López Vallejo 46'); Armando Sá, Quique Alvarez, Ballesteros, Arruabarrena; Héctor Font, Battaglia, Josico, Roger (Santi Cazorla 68'); José Marí (Víctor 79'), Sonny Anderson. 4-4-2.
Spartak: Kowalewski; Kovtun, Soava, Iencsi, Mitreski; Akhmedov, Trobok, Pavlenko, Samedov (Leshonok 78'); Kalinichenko (Pogrebnyak 55'), Pavlyuchenko. 4-4-2.

Goals:
1-0. 51. Sonny Anderson. Picked up Roger's pass and hit shot over top of keeper.

Villarreal got the victory they wanted in their first leg match against Spartak Moscow, although they still have a lot of work to do in the second leg. The Russian side were clearly fitter than their opponents, having already started their domestic league programme, and Reina (who later left the field injured) had to be at his best to save from Pavlyuchenko early on.

But with Roger in great form, the Spaniards gradually worked their way back into the match, and Anderson, José Marí and Arruabarrena all went close before the break. Six minutes after the restart Villarreal finally took the lead, Anderson picking up another pass from Roger to beat Kowalewski from the edge of the area. But despite efforts from Armando Sá and Héctor Font they could not add to their lead, and they now face a tricky visit to Moscow in a week's time.