Villarreal too hot for Espanyol to handle

Villarreal warmed up for Thursday's Europa League clash at Dynamo Zagreb with a thumping 4-0 win over Espanyol in La Liga yesterday.

In earlier matches, Malaga raced into a five-goal lead at Real Zaragoza after 34 minutes before conceding three second-half goals for a 5-3 victory. On Saturday, champions Barcelona suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat by promoted Hercules at the Nou Camp, their first home league loss since May 2009. Real Madrid ground out a laboured 1-0 victory over visiting Osasuna.