El comandante

Marcelino Garcia Toral: Villarreal and Betis can both assure their places in the knockout stages of the Europa League on Thursday night with Villarreal at home to Panathinaikos, while Betis travels to the Czech Republic to face Sparta Prague.

Villarreal's unconvincing 2-1 win against Maccabi Haifa behind closed doors in Cyprus a fortnight ago may have cost former coach Pacheta his job, but it has left them second in their group with a two-point lead over Thursday's rivals, and a win would be enough to assure they make the last-32.

The return of Marcelino Garcia Toral to the Villarreal dugout has seen them win 2-1 in the Copa del Rey away to Zamora and beat Osasuna 3-1 at the weekend.