Wolfsburg 4-1 Villarreal

Wolfsburg carried their improved form into Europe as three first-half goals dumped Villarreal out of the Europa League.

The Bundesliga champions have struggled in their title defence this season but beat Schalke at the weekend and tonight built on their 2-2 first-leg draw to set up a last-16 clash with Russia's Rubin Kazan.

They were two up inside 14 minutes thanks to Edin Dzeko's strike and an own goal from Angel Lopez. Joan Capdevila pulled one back but Christian Gentner struck a third and Grafite made sure in the 64th minute.

Villarreal knew they needed to score after conceding two away goals last week but it was the hosts who were quicker out of the blocks, Marcel Schafer testing Diego Lopez with a shot from the edge of the area.

The Spaniards countered and went close twice in a matter of seconds when Marcos Senna's vicious effort forced Marwin Hitz to push the ball back out into the area only for Nilmar to put the rebound wide.

Wolfsburg broke quickly and, crucially, they made it count. Grafite drew a save from Lopez and then headed wide from the corner but they would not be denied and Dzeko found the top corner from the edge of the area with nine minutes gone.

The Germans' place in the last 16 looked safe only five minutes later when Angel turned the ball into his own net.

Angel then saved his team with a timely clearance as Zvjezdan Misimovic looked to make it three and in the 25th minute the overworked Lopez kept Villarreal's faint hopes alive with a double save from Dzeko.

Gentner again swung in a good cross and Dzeko's shot was saved at point-blank range by the visiting stopper. The resulting corner from Misimovic picked out the head of the striker but again Lopez was up to the task.

Villarreal looked shell-shocked but, against the run of play, they were back in it on the half-hour mark when Senna's corner picked out Capdevila for a thumping header.

Grafite could have restored the two-goal advantage but missed the target from close range while Senna nearly squared things on the night and on aggregate with a brilliant 25-yard free-kick that was superbly tipped round the post by Hitz.

Then, four minutes before half-time, the hosts grabbed a third when Dzeko set up the busy Gentner for a simple finish.

Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido reacted by throwing on Mateo Musacchio and Joseba Llorente at the start of the second half, and the latter almost pulled the visitors back into it with a close-range header from Senna's corner that went wide.

But all hope was extinguished by the lively Grafite 64 minutes in when he volleyed in Misimovic's cross to make it 4-1.

Hitz was determined not to concede again and he pulled off another impressive save from Nilmar while the game ended with Misimovic hitting a post.