#360view: Villarreal rebuke notion of 'two team' competition

Andy West 10:21 06/10/2015
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  • Villarreal boss Marcelinho gives his players the thumbs up.

    An unusual feature of last weekend’s action in La Liga is that none of the top six teams managed to win.

    In addition to Barcelona’s 2-1 defeat at Sevilla and the all-square Madrid derby, leaders Villarreal lost at Levante, Celta Vigo were held at home by Getafe, and Deportivo La Coruna shared the spoils with Granada.

    That set of results serves as a rebuke to anybody who believes La Liga is a ‘two-team’ competition and it is not the first time this season that the major powers of Barca and Madrid have dropped points.

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    Barca, indeed, have now lost two consecutive away games after suffering a 4-1 thrashing against Celta, while Madrid have been held to frustrating goalless draws by Malaga and newly-promoted Sporting Gijon.

    Taking advantage of the big boys’ slow starts, Villarreal find themselves in the unexpected position of first place – they could, indeed, have been four points clear heading into the international break if they had won at lowly Levante on Sunday afternoon.

    That 1-0 defeat is a frustrating case of what-might-have-been for the Yellow Submarine, but they can still enjoy their place at the top of the pile for at least another fortnight.

    Villarreal certainly weren’t expected to start the season so well, because they endured a disruptive summer which saw all four of their strikers depart: Giovanni Dos Santos (now at LA Galaxy), Ikechukwu Uche (Tigres), Luciano Vietto (Atletico Madrid) and Gerard Moreno (Espanyol).

    However, manager Marcelino recruited a new batch of frontmen to fill the gap, and their rapid success has paved the way for a strong start.

    Former Rayo Vallecano striker Leo Baptistao is showing signs of revitalising a career which appeared to have headed into an early decline, Roberto Soldado is back in the goals after an unhappy spell with Tottenham, and Cedric Bakumbu has made an instant impression after joining from Bursaspor.

    Marcelino has also added youthful energy to his midfield, capturing Samu Castillejo from Malaga and Denis Suarez from Sevilla, and it all adds up to create a vibrant and entertaining attack-minded team.

    Of course, they probably won’t stay in first place for long, but challenging for the top four looks within their grasp – especially if this new and more competitive version of La Liga continues.

     

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