MADRID, March 13 (Xinhua) -- Villarreal looks to have an almost impossible task on Thursday as they try to overcome last week's 4-0 first-leg defeat in Marseille and book a place in the quarterfinals of the Europa League.
Villarreal coach Marcelino Garcia Toral endured a miserable return to the club he coached at the start of the season, as Marseille tore apart his policy of playing four central defenders last week.
Ismaila Sarr, Jordan Veretout and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang ripped Villareal to pieces down the flanks, leading 3-0 by halftime, before Aubameyang's second of the game, made it 4-0 with around an hour to play.
Things got even worse for Villarreal when substitute Alberto Moreno was sent off with 28 minutes to play, and he is suspended for Thursday's rematch.
Marcelino rested key players last week, with Etienne Capoue, Dani Parejo and Alexander Sorloth all on the substitutes' bench and with powerful striker, Sorloth in excellent form, the coach has to decide whether to start them on Thursday, or to rest them for Sunday's La Liga derby at home to Valencia.
Despite their heavy defeat in Marseille, Villarreal is currently one of the in-form teams in La Liga. A fourth consecutive league win would put them two points behind their near neighbors and with a chance of qualifying for a European competition next season after a dreadful first half to the campaign.
Given the difficulty of overturning a 4-0 deficit, the ever-pragmatic Marcelino is likely to give priority to the weekend game and field another side with plenty of changes. ■
