Fourth-placed Villarreal hosted 19th-placed Levante and the game played out to script as the home side defeated their visitors 3-0.
Goals from Leo Baptistao, Samu Castillejo and Adrian Lopez were enough for the Yellow Submarine as they continued their good form in a push for a Champions League place.
The home side opened the scoring within the first 15 minutes after what had been a surprisingly open start. Baptistao received a smart ball from his captain Bruno and drove into the box. Under pressure from the Levante back line, the on-loan forward found space and put the ball between the legs of the visiting custodian Diego Marino.
Villarreal doubled their lead in double the time with Castillejo getting on the scoesheet for the first time in the league for the Yellow Submarine. A long ball was picked up by Adrian, who found the winger in space and he coolly slotted home.
The third would come early in the second half through an attack that displayed everything Villarreal have been about this season. A lightning quick counter-attack had the home side on the break with Nahuel releasing Adrian into space and while the option to pass to his fellow forward Baptistao was on, he chose to shoot, bypassing Marino and off the far post into the back of the net.
Levante captain David Navarro would see himself sent off for a second bookable offence on 56 minutes, and from that point there was little to cheer about for the visiting fans as they would see their team slump to a 16th defeat his season.
Europa League no distraction for Villarreal
Despite a hard fought match in Naples just three days prior in the Europa League, Villarreal showed no signs of tiring in their quest for a Champions League berth.
Marcelino rang in the changes with only three players backing up from their round-of-16 draw which put them into the quarter-finals and thus the team continued to look fresh and press hard.
Having gone through the season rarely changing his first XI, Marcelino has experimented more with his team selection in recent times but it did not seem to play on the player’s minds as they stretched their undefeated run to 13 matches.
Squad players Castillejo, Adrian Marin and Eric Bailly all impressed and would all have a strong case to knock on the manager’s door for a start in the next league match against Celta Vigo.
Adrian and Baptistao also made quite the impression up front deputising for Roberto Soldado and Cedric Bakambu and with fixture congestion coming up, will have more opportunities to show their skill.
POPULAR ARTICLES
How the internet reacted to Louis van Gaal’s sensational dive
La Liga – Player Ratings – Real Madrid 0 Atletico Madrid 1
Pogba keen on La Liga, not Chelsea or Manchester City: Reports
Segunda beckons for Levante
Against an understrength home side, Levante needed to take at least a point if they were to begin to climb up the table and out of the relegation zone.
The visitors from 50 kilometres down the road showed nothing at El Madrigal to suggest they deserve their spot in La Primera and will be sweating on upcoming fixtures.
Creating only one real opportunity throughout the whole match is not good enough for a side fighting for survival and with Real Madrid next up for the Valencian side, things do not get easier.
If Levante wish to stay in the top tier, they will need improved performances but after a season of disappointment, it is anyone’s guess where those performances will come from.
Rossi a non-event on his return to Villarreal
Having played five seasons at El Madrigal, Giuseppe Rossi would have been hoping to return with a bang and put in a performance of old.
It was not to be for the on-loan Italian as he was non-existent on his former stomping ground.
A sad spectacle for fans of the injury prone forward who watched him marked out of the game by the exceptional Mateo Musacchio and then saw his game come to an end on 54 minutes.
What are your thoughts? Let us know by dropping a comment below via our Facebook comment box. Make sure you follow us on Twitter @Outside90 and like us on Facebook.
