In-form Luciano Vietto hit two second half goals as Villarreal, down to 10 men for the final 10 minutes, cruised to a 3-0 home victory over Deportivo La Coruna to go fifth in La Liga.
Villarreal's slide continued as a Diego Castro header gave Getafe a 1-1 draw in La Liga on Sunday but the match was overshadowed by a serious injury to Mateo Musacchio.
Inter Milan grabbed a slender advantage over Villarreal with a 2-1 comeback win the in Champions League first-leg quarter-final
Twice in arrears Rangers earned a 2-2 home draw with Villarreal
AC Milan sneaked through to the semi-finals, beating Olympique Lyon 3-1 in the other second leg quarter-final with two late goals. Inter were eliminated on the 'away goals' rule.
Barcelona squandered the chance to go 11 points clear in La Liga on Sunday after blowing a two-goal lead in the space of six minutes in a 2-2 draw at Villarreal overshadowed by a controversial penalty.
Villarreal set up a King's Cup semis against Barca after Gerard Moreno gave them a 1-0 win
Real Madrid have avoided defeat in their last 41 LaLiga games, the second best streak by a team in the competition's history.
AC Milan, Villarreal and Nice reached the knockout stage of the Europa League after posting wins on Thursday in the penultimate round of the group stage.
Villarreal's La Liga match at home to Celta Vigo was suspended shortly before the final whistle when a smoke bomb was thrown on to the pitch on Saturday.
Kylian Mbappe bagged his first hat-trick for Real Madrid as the LaLiga champions easily beat bottom-club Real Valladolid 3-0 on Saturday
Villarreal have agreed to sell Argentine forward Luciano Vietto to Atletico Madrid, president Fernando Roig has said.
IMAGES from the La Liga matches played on Tuesday
Villarreal and Espanyol clung to the coat-tails of the La Liga leaders on Sunday with home wins that owed much to their attractive style of attacking football.
Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini criticised his players' attitude and concentration after they were knocked out of the Intertoto Cup by Slovenian side NK Maribor 3-2 on aggregate.
The 45-year-old former striker, a 2010 World Cup semi-finalist, has switched to tennis since his retirement in 2018, playing on the international senior tour.
Atletico Madrid suffered a first defeat in 13 games in all competitions as they lost 1-0 at home to Villarreal on Tuesday after a late strike from substitute Roberto Soriano.
Villarreal reclaimed fourth spot and a slim advantage in the race for a Champions League place with a 2-0 win at Malaga.
Stuttering Villarreal closed to within a point of the Champions League qualification places when a second-half Cedric Bakambu double secured a 2-1 comeback win at home to Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday.
After a decade of trying, Sunday could be the day Villarreal finally claim three Primera Liga points from Real Madrid at the Spanish champions' Santiago Bernabeu home, according to midfielder Robert Pires.
Villarreal can prevent Barcelona from completing a clean sweep over their closest challengers when the runaway Primera Liga leaders visit the Madrigal on Sunday.
Villarreal's Adrian Lopez produced a stinging sucker punch in stoppage time to leave Liverpool reeling and move the Spaniards closer to a maiden European final after their Europa League last four first leg clash finished 1-0 on Thursday.
All soccer matches scheduled to be played in the Valencian region this weekend have been postponed, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) said on Thursday due to the deadly floods which have killed at least 95 people.
Cani's brilliant effort from just inside Osasuna's half helped Villarreal to a 4-2 home win as La Liga reached the midway point of the season on Saturday.
In the space of a few short months, Villarreal's season of promise has been transformed into a battle for La Liga survival after their elimination from the King's Cup by third-tier opposition and the subsequent dismissal of their coach.
Inter moved on to 68 points, ahead of Lazio on goal difference as the sides are level on their head-to-head records. They are eight points behind Juventus with six games to play.
Cristiano Ronaldo kept up his rich La Liga scoring form as Real Madrid beat Villarreal 2-0 on Saturday to move up to fourth.
Liverpool romed into the Europa League final with a 3-0 win over Villarreal on another magical night at Anfield to tee up a showpiece clash with holders Sevilla who swatted away visitors Shakhtar Donetsk 3-1 on Thursday.
A delightful flick and volley from Neymar allowed him to complete a double as Barcelona beat Villarreal 3-0 to go three points clear at the top of La Liga ahead of Real Madrid's clash with Sevilla later on Sunday.
A fan who racially abused Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr and Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze in two games at Mallorca last year has been found guilty and handed a suspended prison sentence.
Cesc Fabregas and Sol Campbell are doubtful for Champions League semi-final first leg against Villarreal
"We are really pleased and we just have to enjoy it," Celta defender Gustavo Cabral told Spanish television.
Manchester United beat Hungarian champions Debrecen 3-0 in the first leg of their third qualifying round tie on Tuesday.
Athletic Bilbao checked promoted Villarreal's impressive early-season run when they beat the team with the distinctive canary-yellow strip 2-0 at their new San Mames stadium in La Liga on Monday.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale will return to action for Real Madrid's La Liga game with Villarreal on Wednesday, coach Zinedine Zidane said.
The victory takes Barcelona up to fourth with 10 points after six games, one point behind surprise leaders Granada, Athletic Bilbao, who visit Leganes on Wednesday, and Real Madrid ahead of their game at home to Osasuna the same night.
'Either you're injured, and you don't play with your club and you're not called up in the national team.'
Giuseppe Rossi kept Europa League semi-finalists Villarreal on course for a place in the Champions League next season with a penalty to secure a 1-0 win over relegation-threatened Real Zaragoza in La Liga on Monday.
