Marcelino Garcia Toral takes the blame for Villarreal's disastrous Europa League defeat at Marseille

Villarreal's time in the Europa League is effectively at an end, have lost 4-0 to Marseille in the first leg of the last 16 matches on Thursday night. Barring a miracle at La Ceramica next week, the Yellow Submarine will be out of Europe – potentially for two seasons at least, given their current position in the League table.

It was a terrible performance from Villarreal, especially in defence. Head coach Marcelino Garcia Toral, returning to the team he managed for just two months at the start of the season, took full responsibility for the defeat when speaking after the game, AS Diary.

“We broke from a good game dynamics and competitiveness that we had shown. We were very below that level. We played against a good team that showed efficiency. We have to congratulate them because they were better and they were very right. They played better. We didn't live up to our standards, and I'm responsible for that. I didn't make the right decisions and take responsibility for this result.

“The opponent was superior in duels, intensity and efficiency. And we played well below our level. We were not the team we had been, where we competed at a very high level on the road. This team had conceded a lot goals this season and we stopped that bleeding. But that was not the case today.”

Villarreal face Real Betis on Sunday, before that return leg against Marseille next Thursday. After that, their full focus will be on making sure they finish as high as possible in the league, and could end up sneaking into the European spots for next season.