Mixed fortunes for LaLiga clubs in Europa League

The LaLiga clubs' opening action in the 2016/17 Europa League brought a mixed bag of results. Villarreal CF were 2-1 victors at home to Zurich, RC Celta secured a 1-1 draw against Standard Liege in Belgium, while Athletic Club were humbled 3-0 on their visit to Italian side Sassuolo.

The evening did not get off to the most auspicious of starts where the Spanish contingent were concerned. Athletic managed to go into the break on level terms in spite of struggling in the first half away to Sassuolo, but then the Italians were rampant after the interval. Goals from the Spaniard Pol Lirola, Gregoire Defrel and Matteo Politano fired Eusebio Di Francesco's men to a comfortable victory in a second period in which Ernesto Valverde's team were utterly outplayed and overwhelmed by their hosts.

Things looked like going from bad to worse when Villarreal conceded early on at El Madrigal. Just two minutes were on the clock when the Yellow Submarine found themselves trailing, but Alexandre Pato restored parity around the half-hour mark with a scorching right-footed finish. Jonathan dos Santos completed the comeback by giving his side the lead just before half-time and although the second 45 minutes were wide open, no more goals were in store and Villarreal held on for the win.

Celta were also rocked on their heels as they kicked off their 2016/17 Europa League campaign against Standard Liege, going behind to Mathieu Dossevi's second-minute strike in Belgium. However, Giuseppe Rossi sparked the Galicians back into life with a long-range equaliser 10 minutes later. Both the Belgians and Eduardo Berizzo's charges had chances to claim all three points, but ultimately the spoils were shared.