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Europa League group stage, day 6

Victories for the two Liga teams in the last round of group games, although both had to settle for second place after the sides above them also won. Villarreal had few problems beating Apollon 0-2, Gerard Moreno and Vietto getting the goals late on in the first half. As things panned out though they would still have been second had they lost after leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach won comfortably against Zurich. Meanwhile Sevilla came in to their match against Rijeka needing at least a draw to qualify, although a strike by Denis Suárez midway through the first half gave them a 1-0 win in the end. Feyenoord also beat Standard Liège however, so again they had to settle for the runners-up spot. Villarreal and Sevilla will both be in Monday’s round of 32 draw together with Athletic Bilbao, who drop down from the Champions League after finishing third in their group. (11.12.14)


Apollon 0 - Villarreal 2

Villarreal had few problems beating Apollon 0-2 in their last group game to qualify for the knock-out stage as second in their group. Only an unlikely combination of results would have seen them lose out, but Marcelino was not taking any chances, and put out a strong line-up. For most of the first half they were on top, Vietto bringing a couple of good saves out of Hidi and Pina heading wide, and with ten minutes to go to the break Gerard Moreno opened the scoring, scooping a shot over the keeper after Vietto’s centre fell kindly for him. Five minutes later Vietto fired home the second after Jaume Costa scuffed the ball across the area, and although Asenjo had to keep out Sangoy and Rezek later on, the result was never in doubt. They still had to settle for second place though as leaders Borussia Moenchengladbach won comfortably against Zurich in the other group game.


Sevilla 1 – Rijeka 0

Sevilla came in to their match against Rijeka needing at least a draw to qualify for the next stage of the competition, but although they won 1-0 in the end, a victory by leaders Feyenoord against Standard Liège in the other group game meant the Andalusians ended their mini-league in second place. Unai Emery’s team were on top right from the start, and with twenty minutes gone Denis Suárez picked up a pass by Reyes and ran on to fire a shot past Vargic. The keeper did well to save from Reyes later on in the first half, but after the restart the Croatians came back, Jajalo going close and Beto having to save from Kvrzic and Kramaric. Diogo, Banega and Gameiro all tested Vargic again later on though, and M’bia could have increased the lead when he hit the bar near the end.