Villarreal beat Atalanta to qualify for UEFA Champions round of 16

La Liga side Villareal held on late in their rescheduled UEFA Champions League last group stage game in Bergamo on Thursday evening to move into the round of sixteen of the competition behind Manchester United.

Unlike the Premier League side, who had secured qualification on matchday five and also played their last group game on Wednesday, Atalanta and Villareal had to wait after unfriendly weather conditions on Wednesday in Bergamo.

Arnaut Danjuma cleared the path for a victory for Unai Emery’s side as early as the 3rd minute before Etienne Capoue doubled the advantage on the 41st minute.

Arnaut Danjuma then put the game beyond doubt Six minutes after the restart, or so it seemed until Atalanta threatened a comeback with Ruslan Malinovsky in the 71st minute before Divan Zapata scored one more ten minutes later.

However, the Italians dropped into the Europa League while the Yellow Submarines ended up in second as the game ended 3-2. A draw would have been enough for the Europa League champions, nevertheless.

Meanwhile, Real Sociedad beat PSV 3-0 to move into the next stage of the UEFA Europa League. A goal in either half of the game by Mikel Oyazarbal set the team up for a win, while Alex Sorloth scored the third and final goal in stoppage time to seal the win.

Written by: Daniel Ademiju Idowu