Villarreal took a giant step toward the UEFA Europa League semifinals with a sound thumping of FC Twente in the first leg of their quarterfinal series at Estadio El Madrigal on Thursday.
Nilmar scored twice, and Giuseppe Rossi added a beautiful strike in the second half to put Oguchi Onyewu and his teammates in a giant hole heading into the return leg. Twente was able to secure an away goal through Marc Janko at the end of the match to salvage a 5-1 scoreline and maintain a sliver of hope in the competition.
Highlights of the match are after the jump: