Samu Garcia and Adrian Lopez scored in the first halffollowing assists from the outstanding Roberto Soldado as Villarreal moved up to 64 points, six clear of fifth-placed Athletic Bilbao with a superior head-to-head record.
Villarreal remain in the hunt for the Europa League titleafter beating Liverpool 1-0 at home in their semi-final first leg and could qualify for the Champions League group stage rather than the playoffs if they win that competition.
The Spanish side reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2006, but have not featured in the continent's most prestigious club competition since their quarter-final elimination by Arsenal in 2009.
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(Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Ed Osmond)
