A 3-2 victory in Thursday's rearranged meeting with Atalanta in Bergamo was enough to secure second place in a group which Manchester United topped.
Arnaut Danjuma was the star performer, scoring a memorable brace in a snow-swept Northern Italy, with his first strike coming after just three minutes of play.
This was followed by Etienne Capoue doubling the lead with an effort just before half time, with the Spanish side in dreamland.
Few had expected Atalanta to appear so sluggish in what was a must-win match for them, yet after 51 minutes they let Danjuma through their defences once more and he made it 3-0 to Villarreal.
You would have been forgiven for thinking that was game over, yet the Italian side showed a lot of heart and mounted a fightback in the last 20 minutes.
Ruslan Malinovskyi pulled one back for the hosts, whilst just nine minutes later it was 3-2 with Duvan Zapata putting the finishing touches to an attacking move.
Atalanta weren't able to find what would have been an equalising goal as Villarreal put up a defensive wall that nobody had expected them to require just 15 minutes earlier, but their relief upon the final whistle was clear.
The Italian team will now join the Europa League, whilst Villarreal will look forward to Monday's Champions League draw where they will hope to avoid some of the bigger challenges left in the tournament, most notably Manchester City and Bayern Munich.
Culled: Marca
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