Key games for Spanish sides in Europa League

None of the three Spanish sides in Europa League action on Thursday night can afford to slip up if they want to assure their places in the knockout stage of the competition.

Athletic Club Bilbao, Celta Vigo and Villarreal all need wins from their respective matches, otherwise they face a real threat of not qualifying from their respective groups, all of which hang very much in the balance.

Celta Vigo' s defeat to Ajax in their last game left them with five points from four matches, level on points with Belgian side Standard Liege, who they entertain on Thursday knowing a win would see them into the last 32, while defeat would almost certainly put them out of the tournament.

Athletic Club Bilbao are in a similar situation for their home game against Italian side, Sassuolo, who travel to Spain amidst a crisis of injuries and results. The poor away form of the Basques, who were beaten 3-0 in Italy earlier in the campaign, means a home win is vital, although a draw would be enough to see them through if they are able to win their final group game away to Austria Vienna.

Ernesto Valverde will be without injured midfielder Ander Iturraspe, but will field his strongest available side led by Aritz Aduriz, who scored 5 goals at home to Genk in Athletic' s last home game in the Europa League.

Finally Villarreal travel to play FC Zurich after a shock home defeat against Osmanlispor left Fran Escriba' s side with work to do. Villarreal took just one point from two games against the Turks and their progress now rests on taking at least a draw from their trip to Switzerland.

Villarreal beat Zurich 2-1 in their opening group leg, so defeat by a wider margin could see the Spanish side tumble out of the competition depending on the result between Osmanlispor and Steaua Bucharest. Endit