Valencia warm up for Liverpool by handing out a thrashing to Athletic Bilbao

Gerard Houllier will be flooded by a tide of superlatives if he asks his scouts how impressive Valencia were against Athletic Bilbao.

The Liverpool manager, preparing his team for Wednesday's game against the Spanish champions, was not at the Mestalla on Saturday, when Valencia thrashed Athletic Bilbao 5-1. Pablo Aimar hit a first-half hat-trick and there were further goals from John Carew and Tiko.

Valencia's leading strikers are all likely to be on parade on Wednesday as they still need points to be sure of qualifying for the second group phase of the Champions' League.

Unlike Valencia, Real Madrid are misfiring and Ronaldo is nowhere near peak fitness after almost two months at the Bernabeu.

That was spelled out by the Real coach Vicente del Bosque after Saturday's 1-1 draw with Villarreal, which lifted the European champions to fourth in the table but did little to inspire confidence. Ronaldo was mediocre and was replaced in the 69th minute.

"He still needs to adapt to his new team and his new companions," Del Bosque said. "He is still in his personal pre-season and playing 90 minutes every three days is a bit excessive for him."