Villarreal have virtually qualified for the group stage as they, being top seeds, put in a good attacking showing to dispose of lowest seeds BATE at the Madrigal. Coach Pellegrini was pleased with his team's overall showing - except conceding that goal, which he was furious at - and the attacking prowess of even a rotated Yellow Submarine squad was totally undeniable. BATE came and tried to take the game to Villarreal - much to their cost - but did well to get a goal, even though they were naive at times.

Both sides went 4-4-2, BATE attacking from the outset, and indeed looked more impressive going forward than they did sitting back, in a strange antithesis to many of the other UEFA Cup hopefuls. Villarreal rotated their squad to a great extent, from Diego Lopez at the back to Matigol Fernandez on the left wing, while a dual strikeforce of the rejuvenated Nihat and the imposing Tomasson proved more than sufficient to dispose of the hosts.

And this they did within minutes. BATE started brightly and with all due ambiton, but were quickly crushed, their efforts at attacking nullified by Nihat's free kick. For the second time in a week he netted directly from a set piece, and that, effectively, killed off BATE's challenge. But still they came; Villarreal were far better, though, and Marcos Senna - given far too much space by the standing-off BATE defence - was able to rattle home a long range effort not too long after to double the score. The Yellow Submarine continued to rout the opponent using the full width of the pitch and good through balls, but Tomasson spurned two one on ones and 'Matigol' couldn't control his efforts, so it was 2-0 at half time.

Nihat made it three minutes after the restart, firing home from a narrow angle after Cani's great run and delicate pass. Then it was four, and schoolboy stuff; Tomasson lingered on the edge of the box, the defenders non-committal; they seemed to watch Nihat on the overlap but Jon instead struck it himself, lobbing the hapless keeper. BATE had a penalty as Rio Mavuba - the sub who was to have a poor game - conceded it, but Diego Lopez did well to save it, before the visitors pulled one back through Zhavnerchik as Villarreal switched off. Despite the hosts' lapse, though, 4-1 it ended.

Villarreal enjoyed a routine win and were able to give many players a run-out, so in that regard the evening must be considered a success. They silenced the visitors' attacking ideas early on and went on to dominate, other than at that goal. They'll need to tighten things up a bit as the competition progresses, but they can take heart from this, even if a hefty win was a bare minimum. As for BATE, they didn't hold their shape well at the back, but it was not a total disaster. Despite being bottom seeds, they must know that there are worse teams in this competition and certainly many not so ambitious. They could improve, but this year they just aren't ready for European competition.