The goal last night came from Léo Baptistao who is on loan from Atlético and was allowed to feature given that there was no clause in the loan to prevent him from doing so. The goal was a nice finish from the Brazilian and a reminder to the Atlético management of what he can do.
Villarreal's impressive start to the season has been built around the newly found confidence from Roberto Soldado the big summer signing from Tottenham while Congolaise striker Cédric Bakambu, who was signed from Bursaspor got in among the goals until his unfortunate injury last week. The midfield features experienced Bruno Soriano and backed up by young budding stars such as Samu Castillejo and Manu Trigueros. The team play a very eye catching short passing game which has continued the tradition built from the Pellegrini era.
One question that might be asked in the next few weeks is can Villarreal stay competitive at the top? in short probably not but there is optimism that they have given themselves a good chance of ending the season in the final champions league spot. The start of this season has seen both Sevilla and Valencia get off to shaky starts and in the former's case they were bottom going into this weekend's round of games. However both have picked up victories this weekend and are expected to climb up the table into the race for 4th place. Villarreal need to keep this start going.
In terms of anything more, its very unlikely Villarreal will be able to challenge for the league. They have Europa league football to juggle as well as some testing next few league games to contend with but if they find themselves in a similar position come the new year they could be a dark horse.
Their next games in the league will be a good indicator to see if they are up to the challenge of staying in the top 4 and maybe higher.
In the league they have a tough looking next few games. Away to Levante next Sunday before hosting the other surprise package so far in Celta Vigo, a trip to Las Palmas and hosting Sevilla all before November 2nd. Should they come out of those next few games in a similar position to where they are now they will have given themselves a great platform to go on and take the game to an injury hit Barcelona just before the international break in November.
Previous:
In 2007-08 Villarreal ended the campaign in 2nd place behind runaway winners Real Madrid. They made a similar start to that season as they have done to this. Below is the table in 2007-08 after six games.
Villarreal this season are actually a point better off than in 2007-08 and also have conceded one goal less also. In 2007-08 they also had a UEFA cup campaign to juggle as well, they reached the last 32 before going out to eventual winners Zenit St Petersburg.
Hopefully Villarreal stick around near the top of the table. It would make for an interesting season if they do.
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