A no doubt exciting game but it's time I bid you farewell and a goodnight. I've been Cammy Anderson and I hope you've enjoyed my live commentary of Borussia Mönchengladbach - Villarreal.
Full time in Group A's other fixture: Apollon have beaten Zurich 3-2 courtesy of a late own goal.
The game ends with plenty controversy and players from both sides surrounding the referee but the Slovakian referee will not listen.
94'. FULL TIME: Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Villarreal CF
93'. Jeers remain to be heard around Borussia Park as time comes to a close.
90'. Clear calls again for a Gladbach penalty but the referee again doesn't award a penalty.
90'. Four minutes time to be added.
89'. Mönchengladbach furious, The linesman awards a penalty against Villarreal before the referee overrules his decision.
88'. Dos Santos goes it alone despite support in the box and wastes an opportunity late on.
86'. Conditions have began to worsen again but thankfully there's not long left for the already soaked players.
83'. Traore bends in a cross around the full back but can't get it to bend towards an opponent.
82'. Eight minutes remain, can either side grab another and go on to take all three points?
78'. The home support are getting loud again and "Shololololololol Borussia" rings around the stadium.
76'. Final sub of the evening: Raffael ON Hrgota OFF
73'. A change a piece for each side. Villarreal use their final sub bringing on Dos Santos for the injured Uche while Borussia Mönchengladbach replace goalscorer Herrmann with Traore.
72'. After just Twenty-six seconds on the pitch Uche now limps down the tunnel. What a crazy time Uche had.
68'. With his first touch of the ball Uche takes full advantage of the slippery conditions to slide the ball inbetween the legs of Sommer. He's also came off a little bit worse for ware after colliding with Sommer.
68'. GOAAAAAALLLLL VILLAREAL!
66'. Second change of the evening for Villarreal: Uche ON Vietto OFF
63'. Vietto sticks it in the net but the referee pulls play back for an apparent foul on Stranzl. Gladbach remain one nil up but only just.
62'. Mönchengladbach sub: Hahn ON Johnson OFF.
61'. Villarreal sub: Trigueros ON Pina OFF.
58'. Gomez lays it off to Cheryshev but the Russian can't keep his shot down and sends it over the top of the goal.
57'. Astonishingly, FC Zurich have drawn level in Cyprus after scoring twice in a matter of minutes following the restart. Gladbach move up to top spot.
56'. Herrmann and Johnson have swapped wings. Herrmann now occupies the left wing while Johnson the right.
52'. Cheryshev fires wildly from outside the box and it flies half way up the "Sud Kurve."
51'. Xhaka tries one from range but the ball swerves out past the goals and out for a goal kick.
49'. Kruse sends in a costless kick and Cani slices it backwards and forces his keeper to back track as it goes out for Borussia's second corner of the game.
47'. Stranzl makes a hash of a clearance and Cheryshev burst through and feeds Vietto. Dominguez however times his tackle to perfection and sends the ball out for yet another Villarreal corner.
46'. The rain has definitely taken it's toll on the pitch and it is now beginning to cut up in places.
Both sides are back out on the pitch and remain unchanged as of yet
Second Half.
Second half coming up in a matter of minutes so hold tight and join me in hoping for more goals.
Since the last score update, Apollon have doubled their lead against Zurich and sit at Group A's summit.
Half Time.
45'. No injury time added onto the end of the half and Borussia Mönchengladbach go in as rightful leaders.
42'. Dominguez fires one deep but fortunately for Villarreal Musacchio is able to head away.
40'. Hrgota takes too much time and fails to convert into an empty net over Asenjo who looks mighty relieved after getting a slight touch to it.
38'. Perhaps Villarreal's most dangerous corner yet, it's only took seven attempts but Villarreal were unable to capitalise on Sommer's hesitancy.
37'. Herrmann cuts the ball back but Kramer doesn't reach it and Hrgota waste fully fires wide.
36'. Up the other end, Xhaka hammers one narrowly over the bar from outside the box and is unlucky not to have replicated his goal against Sarajevo in the play off round.
35'. Vietto hits one along the floor but Sommer is able to save comfortably.
34'. The heavens have opened in the West of Germany but that's not stopping the Nord Kurve from having a good time.
32'. The Nord Kurve are getting noisy behind Sommer and are creating a great atmosphere.
29'. Two Villarreal corners in quick succession puts their tally for the night to five, none of which have caused any damage.
27'. Costless kick goes straight at Sommer despite slight deflection on its way through.
26'. Vietto has been shoved down by Kramer outside the box and escapes caution.
25'. Hrgota hits from range and Asenjo fails to gather at first time of asking. Increased pressure on Villarreal following the goal.
24'. Elsewhere in Group A, Minnows Apollon lead FC Zurich a goal to nil at home.
21'. The ball falls to Herrmann outside the box who sends it under Asenjo following a defensive mistake from "El Submarino." 1-0.
21'. GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL BORUSSIA MÖNCHENGLADBACH
20'. Cani threads through Cheryshev who goes one on one but his outstretched leg couldn't guide the ball round an on-rushing Sommer. Best chance yet.
19'. The book is out for the first time as Villarreal's Pina is cautioned for a foul on Borussia's Hrgota.
18'. Current possession: Gladbach 71-29 Villarreal.
15'. Quarter of an hour gone and the German's are in control. A not too bad start from the Spaniards either.
12'. Moments later Wendt crosses but it comes too soon for Herrmann and the lurking Kruse couldn't get a touch either. Villarreal then broke up field but Vietto was stopped by Stranzl.
11'. Wendt rattles one from outside the box but can't get the ball on target as it whistles past Asenjo's far post.
9'. Cheryshev dances through the Gladbach defence but Stranzl is able to stop the promising run and hoofs the ball up field.
8'. Cani crosses to the far post but Jantschke heads out for a corner. Villarreal's Soriano gets a head to the corner but causes no real problems for Sommer.
7'. Villarreal have begun to press Gladbach but the hosts remain calm and in possession.
4'. Both sides come out the block in fine form but Borussia are dominating early proceedings with an immense passing display.
1'. Corner for Villarreal early on but danger is averted quickly with thanks to Borussia captain Martin Stranzl.
1'. We have lift off! Villarreal kick off shooting towards the " Nord Kurve."
17:59. Gladbach will play in their all black European kit while Villarreal will wear their traditional all yellow.
17:58. The teams are out on the pitch. Kick off is imminent.
17:56. Just four minutes until kick off, time to kick back, relax and hopefully you enjoy my live coverage of the fixture.
17:47. Here's this evenings match programme:
17:35. Mönchengladbach in training
17:33. In other football related news, 2010 Europa League runners up Fulham have sacked manager, Felix Magath.
17:30. Half an hour until kick off.
17:28. Uche passed a late fitness test and finds himself on the bench. The Nigerian forward is joined by Dos Santos, Trigueros, Rukavina, Moreno, Espinosa and Villarreal back-up goalie Juan Carlos.
17:22. Notable exclusions from the hosts starting lineup include the often mercurial Raffael and summer acquisition Andre Hahn. Both of whom start on the bench alongside, Traoré, Nordtveit, Schulz, Thorgan Hazard and substitute keeper, Heimeroth.
17:11. and on we go to the visitors, Villarreal CF: Asenjo; Mario, Musacchio, Gabriel, Victor Ruiz; Pina, Bruno, Cani, Moi, Cheryshev; Vietto
17:07. Starting with the hosts, Borussia Mönchengladbach: Sommer; Jantschke, Stranzl, Dominguez, Wendt; Kramer, Xhaka, Herrmann, Johnson; Hrgota, Kruse.
17:03. The teams are now in, stay tuned for the squads in a couple minutes time.
17:00. Gladbach brought in a handful of players over the summer window including, Yann Sommer, Fabian Johnson, André Hahn, Ibrahima Traore and Thorgan Hazard (Loan). It is presumed the moves were made in order to strengthen Gladbach's push for a top four finish after a sixth placed finish last term.
Villarreal went one better and signed six players during the off season, four being permanent moves. Luciano Vietto, Jonathan Dos Santos, Antonio Rukavina and Javier Espinosa all joined from, Racing De Avellanda, Barcelona, Valladolid and Barcelona B respectively. While it was Denis Cheryshev and Victor Ruiz who joined the club on initial season long loan deals.
16:55. Villarreal have been hit quite badly with injuries this past week Forward Giovanni Dos Santos tore his hamstring while on International duty with Mexico and will miss the tie indefinitely. Joining him on the sidelines is full back Jaume Costa who tore his calf muscle during training last week. Bojan Jokic, another full back will miss the tie. Other than that, there is a full team available. Nigerian striker, Ikechukwu Uche may also miss the tie through a hand injury but he will likely be assessed pre-game.
16:50. Tony Jantschke is the only player out injured for Borussia after suffering ankle ligament damage in training during Monday's session. Other than Jantschke, Gladbach have a clean bill of health and a full team to pick from.
16:40. Be sure to check out tonight's preview from Borussia Mönchengladbach - Villarreal which can be found here.
16:30. Tonight's venue is Mönchengladbach's, appropriately named "Borussia Park." The stadium can hold crowd in excess of 50,000 fans ( 54,057 to be precise ) including a 16,145 capacity standing area. Borussia's fans are one of the loudest in the Bundesliga and you can expect to hear and see them bounce away on the "Nord Kurve", "North Curve" to you and I.
16:25. Borussia Mönchengladbach and Villarreal are the bookies favourites to progress from Group A and definitely got one of the lets say "kinder" draws of the group stage being paired with Zurich and European minnows Apollon.
16:20. Tonight's other games: Apollon-Zurich, Club Brugge-Torino, FC Copenhagen-HJK Helsinki,Besiktas-Asteras Tripolis, Partizan-Tottenham,Dinamo Zagreb-FC Astra Ploiesti,Salzburg-Celtic,PSV-Estoril,Panathinaikos-Dynamo Moscow,Dnipro-Inter Milan,Karabakh Azersun- St. Étienne,Sevilla-Feyenoord,Standard Leige-Rijeka,Everton-Wolfsburg,Lille-Krasnodar,Napoli-Sparta Prague,BSC Young Boys-Slovan Bratislava,Rio Ave-Dynamo Kiev,Steaua Bucharest-Aalborg BK,Fiorentina-Guingamp,PAOK-Dinamo Minsk,Metalist Kharkiv-Trabzonspor and Legia Warsaw-Lokeren.
16:15. At the helm for the visitors is 49 year old Marcelino Garcia Toral, better known by his first name "Marcelino." Marcelino took over at El Madrigal in the summer of 2013 following Manuel Pellegrini's departure to Manchester City. The Spaniard has previously managed Sporting Gijon and Real Zaragoza amongst others and most notably and recently Sevilla.
16:10. Lucien Favre has had control of the reigns at Borussia since 2011 when he took over a side destined for relegation. The Swiss tactician turned fortunes around and he and his side narrowly scraped through the relegation playoff with a two legged victory over Bochum. Favre's past sides were known for being well organised and Gladbach are no different. Furthermore, Favre is considered a somewhat hero in fellow group A side FC Zurich's camp after winning the Swiss title while managing there.
16:05. Tonight's referee is Ivan Kružliak from Slovakia. His assistants are fellow compatriots Ondrej Brendza and Tomáš Vorel. Kružliak is no stranger to the competition having refereed during the 2012-13 edition. More recently though, he refereed England's 4-0 2014 World Cup qualifier against Moldova at Wembley.
16:00. Villarreal have started the season reasonably well with a win draw and loss in heir first three. A comfortable first matchday win over Levante was followed by a narrow loss to Barcelona and this past weekend they picked up a point at Granada with a somewhat makeshift squad in places.
15:55. The hosts started the season with two draws against Stuttgart and Freiburg before demolishing rivals FC Schalke 04 4-1 this past weekend at tonight's venue Borussia Park. Andre Hahn opened the scoring with a thunderous strike in the first half before adding a second soon after the break. A Choupo-Moting penalty minutes after Hahn's second was all Schalke could muster before goals from Borussia's Kruse and Raffael followed to seal the deal. They arrived in the group stage following a convincing 10-2 aggregate victory in the playoff round against FK Sarajevo.
15:50. Tonight's game sees the aforementioned sides play for the first time in their illustrious histories. The two sides are joined in Group A by Swiss side FC Zurich and Cypriot outfit Apollon Limassol.
15:40. Borussia are two time winners of the competition albeit in it's old, UEFA Cup format. Both wins came during the 1970's a period considered to be one of the best in Mönchengladbach's history for obvious reasons. Villarreal have only ever made it to the semi-finals and have done so on two occasions. Once in the UEFA Cup format in 2004 and more recently in 2011 when they were knocked out to eventual winners FC Porto.
15:35. “Rotation isn’t my philosophy. We have six games coming up in the next 18 days and therefore there’ll automatically be changes. However, the rest period from Saturday to Thursday is greater than from Thursday to Sunday,” said Foals coach Lucien Favre. “You can’t forget that Schalke have a lot of injured players. They gave us a lot of space and therefore had it easy at times. It’ll definitely be a lot harder against Villarreal. Spain aren’t top of the UEFA rankings for no reason. It says a lot about the quality of their team that they finished sixth in such a strong league. They’ve only conceded one goal in their first three league games of this season, after playing away twice and once at home against Barcelona. That shows that they’re very good at the back and are well organized,”
15:30. Possible Villarreal starting XI: Asenjo; Mario, Musacchio, Paulista, Marin; Cani, Soriano, Trigueros, Cheryshev; Vietto, Moreno.
15:20. Possible Borussia Mönchengladbach starting XI: Sommer; Korb, Stranzl, Dominguez, Johnson; Kramer, Xhaka; Hahn, Raffael, Traore; Kruse.
15:10. Look out for: Borussia's pace merchant Andre Hahn who alongside ridiculous speed has lots of strength about him and one hell of a shot on him too. The German shot to fame after a stand out season with Augsburg last season after spending spells in the lower tiers of the German football. Villarreal centre back, Mateo Musacchio could prove to be a key asset for the yellow submarine in their quest for European glory for the first time. The 24 year old is most commonly associated with being a strong tackler of the ball and good at intercepting play in Spain.
15:00. Hello and welcome to VAVEL's LIVE coverage of Borussia Mönchengladbach versus Villarreal, in the opening matchday of the Europa League Group stages; with match commentary coming from me, Cammy Anderson. Kick-off is scheduled for 18:00BST.