Following an eighth placed finish last season Marcelino’s Villarreal have raced out of the blocks this time around and currently find themselves third in the La Liga table.
It’s been an electric start for the Yellow Submarine, with five wins, two draws and one defeat (a 5-1 humbling at the hands of league leaders Barcelona). Draws away to Valencia and at home to Atletico Madrid were decent results while they have been highly impressive in their five victories, rounding off with a 3-1 win over Las Palmas on Monday night.
That result lifted Marcelino’s men above Athletic Bilbao and Atletico Madrid and into the third spot—a single point behind Real Madrid and four off the lead. And there are two stand-out reasons, among several, why Villarreal have started so well.
Firstly, they have no European football to contend with; no Thursday/Sunday fixture routine which, under the new extended formats of the Champions and Europa Leagues, will afflict more of their title rivals.
Secondly, the form of summer recruit Ayoze Perez has been exceptional. The 31-year-old striker scored nine goals in 31 appearances for Real Betis last term and he has already scored six in seven for Villarreal this season, which places him second top scorer in the league, behind only Barca’s Robert Lewandowski.
Perez missed the Monday night win over Las Palmas with what the club described as a minor injury and Marcelino said he didn’t want to risk making it a longer-term problem; so hopefully the former Newcastle man will be back in the Villareal line up soon.
In the meantime, there is plenty of attacking talent in this team to cover while Perez gets back to full fitness, with Nicolas Pepe, Thierno Barry and the exciting Alex Baena all on the score sheet on Monday.
Flick has Barcelona ticking
Hansi Flick could hardly have hoped for a better start to his tenure as Barcelona head coach, winning his first seven La Liga games and sitting proudly at the top of the Primera Division.
And while the SBOTOP La Liga 2024 betting odds still back Real Madrid to retain their title, the Blaugrana are giving Los Blancos plenty to think about.
Clearly the continuing form of the goal machine Robert Lewandowski and Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal has been vital to the Catalans’ start.
But the impact of the German manager is not to be underestimated.
The intensity of Flick’s training sessions is a big departure from the technical approach of previous Barca manager—his German style gegen-pressing makes his team more energetic and hungrier off the ball, whilst easily going the distance on match day.
Flick has added a physical prowess to the clear natural ability the Blaugrana players have, and a winning mentality is creeping through the club.
Flick’s methods have been welcomed by all at the club and that will stand them in good stead when tough times come.
The manager took the blame for Barca’s first league loss of the season, away to Osasuna at the weekend. He rested some key players and is set to play a strong side when the Catalans host Young Boys in the Champions League in midweek.
Having controversially lost their European opener away to Monaco, playing 80 minutes with ten men, Barca will be determined to put the Swiss side to the sword.
Osasuna and Mallorca are making waves
Hot on the heels of the likely suspects at the top of the table, two lesser fancied clubs are upsetting the odds.
Osasuna, 11th-place finishers last term, are sitting in seventh place and have just ended Barcelona’s flawless run—in some style—whilst Real Mallorca, having survived a relegation battle last season, finishing 15th, are one place ahead in sixth.
Osasuna’s 4-2 whacking of the Blaugrana was one of the shocking La Liga 2024 results so far as Vicente Moreno’s men stormed into a 4-1 lead before Yamal scored a late consolation.
Striker Ante Budimir scored a brace to make it three goals for the season, whilst Abel Bretones and Bryan Zaragoza were both on target. 23-year-old winger Zaragoza (on loan from Bayern Munich) is a tricky customer whilst skipper Unai Garcia is a rock at the heart of defence and is Osasuna through and through, in his 11th season at the club.
Real Mallorca are making a charge with three wins on the bounce lifting them up to sixth place. They followed a stunning home win over Real Sociedad with away victories against Real Betis and Real Valladolid, and Jagoba Arrasate’s side have shown they can scrap it out with a real chance of a top ten place this year.
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