Battaglia blow for Villarreal

It was a disappointing weekend for the UEFA Cup Group E contenders as only FK Partizan registered a win. uefa.com rounds up the latest ahead of Matchday 4.

Villarreal
Sebastián Battaglia will be out for up to three months after tearing a thigh muscle in training. Without him, Villarreal CF lost 2-1 at Real Betis Balompié to slip to 15th in the Primera División. Substitute Antonio Guayre scored for the visitors, who were missing suspended defenders Quique Álvarez and Rodolfo Arruabarrena, but an equaliser proved elusive as Villarreal slipped to their fifth league defeat of the season. Roger García and Javi Venta continue to make their recoveries.

Partizan
Partizan remain top of the Prva Liga after a comfortable 3-0 win at bottom club FK Hajduk Beograd. Dragan Ciric broke the deadlock six minutes before half-time, then Simon Vukcevic sealed matters with two fantastic long-range strikes in as many minutes. Coach Vladimir Vermezovic rested Saša Ilic and Pierre Boya, and hopes to have defender Milivoje Cirkovic available for the game against Villarreal. Dragoljub Jeremic is still out.

Egaleo
Egaleo FC, who must avoid defeat against S.S. Lazio on Thursday to retain any hope of remaining in the UEFA Cup, conceded an added-time goal as they were held to their sixth draw in nine league games at Iraklis FC. Georgios Barkoglou and Anastasios Agritis were both on target. The Greek team were without the injured Nikolaos Nikolopoulos and Ioannis Chloros, who has yet to regain match fitness after a knee problem.

Lazio
Lazio had goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi sent off as Cagliari Calcio came from behind to earn a 3-2 win in Rome. Goran Pandev and Massimo Oddo scored for Lazio, who were missing hamstring casualties Luciano Zauri and Sebastiano Siviglia. Giuliano Giannichedda remains sidelined with a thigh problem.

Middlesbrough
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka and Ray Parlour all returned to the starting lineup as Middlesbrough FC missed the chance to go fourth in the Premiership with a 2-0 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur FC. The UEFA Cup hopefuls, who sit out Matchday 4, had defender Franck Queudrue sent off five minutes before half-time as they fell to a first league loss in eight games. Ugo Ehiogu is still out with a calf problem, but should return for Matchday 5 and the visit of Partizan.