Villarreal coach Unai Emery was delighted with their thumping win at Rayo Vallecano.

The Basque manager underlined the importance of the 5-1 win at Rayo and the need to build on it next Sunday.

Emery said, “The win is very important in the context of a very good season, part of which has been in Europe. We want to end LaLiga in the European spots, which gives recognition to the team, the club and the town. They played with their strongest XI and they wanted the win. Every match is an opportunity. I would have liked to have caused even more problems to them in the second half, but generally, we put in a serious performance, showing maturity. We were looking for answers and performance.

“We depend on ourselves. Our win comes first. We have to win on Sunday against Real Sociedad, and after that, we've got a very difficult match in Barcelona. Against Real Sociedad, it will be a great game. In LaLiga, we're very similar in a lot of things.

“Playing in Europe is important for every team. It's something that's really nice. For Villarreal, playing in the Conference League wouldn't be a failure should we not get into the Europa League. It's the third tier of competition, but there are teams that really value it."

Pau Torres reached 100 matches in LaLiga on the night.

Emery added: “He's the hometown boy, but he's now a well-known played. He's an role model for football in Vila-real, in the Region of Valencia, in Spain, and worldwide. And he's a great person too."