La Liga round-up: Villarreal and Athletic Club struggle in the Champions League | OneFootball

It has been a disappointing night for La Liga clubs in the Champions League, with zero victories out of three matches played. Barcelona were comprehensively beaten by Chelsea, while things did not go much better for Villarreal and Athletic Club, as they took on Borussia Dortmund and Slavia Praha respectively.

Champions League hopes go up in flames for Villarreal

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Borussia Dortmund 4-0 Villarreal

Villarreal are facing an uphill struggle to reach the play-offs of the Champions League, as their winless league phase campaign continued with a damaging defeat to Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduma Park. Marcelino Garcia Toral’s side had chances to score the opening goal, but in first half stoppage time, they fell behind when Serhou Guirassy headed home from close range.

10 minutes into the second half, the match was ended as a contest. Juan Foyth was sent off for handling the ball on the line, and although Guirassy’s penalty was saved by Luiz Junior, the Dortmund striker scored the rebound. Further goals from Karim Adeyemi and Daniel Svensson ensured a miserable night for the Yellow Submarine, who stay on one point after five matches played.

Athletic Club rue missed chances in Czech Republic

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Slavia Praha 0-0 Athletic Club

Athletic Club suffered a blow to their chances of progressing to the Champions League play-offs, as they were held to a goalless draw in Prague. Oihan Sancet should have scored early on, but his effort was denied by Jindrich Stanek, who also made a fabulous stop to deny Robert Navarro in the second half.

Los Leones are only a point outside of the top 24, but with their final three matches being against Paris Saint-Germain (home), Atalanta (away) and Sporting CP (home), they will find it very difficult to accumulate the points required to progress.