Villarreal test for Atletico
Atletico Madrid ended a run of three consecutive defeats with the 1-1 Cham-pions League draw against Liverpool on Wednesday and Javier Aguirre's team must now put Europe on the back burner to improve their league position, starting with Sunday's tough trip to Villarreal.
After losing to Sevilla, Barcelona and Real Madrid in their last three outings Atletico have fallen to eighth in the standings and already trail leaders Valencia by a full ten points.
The poor results have seen Atletico's Mexican manager Aguirre come under extreme pressure with speculation that Tottenham Hotspur's struggling boss Juande Ramos, who won two UEFA Cups with Sevilla, was being lined up as his replacement.
Villarreal, sitting third and still unbeaten, are a tough proposition at El Madrigal and Atletico striker Diego Forlan admits his ex-club will be a big obstacle to overcome.
"Villarreal are doing well in the league and the Champions League," said Forlan. "You notice that the coach and the players have been together a long time.
"They are also at home and that gives them an advantage as they are strong in front of their own fans."
Goals have been in short supply in the league with Villarreal scoring just nine times in their seven games but coach Manuel Pellegrini will hope the 6-3 Champions League win over Aalborg is the start of a goal rush.
"We do not want to let this opportunity pass because it is a great chance to distance ourselves from a great team and a direct rival, that will be up around the top at the end of the season," said Villarreal midfielder Santiago Cazorla. Real Madrid were the only Spanish team to lose in the Champions League this week, tasting a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Juventus on Tuesday, and manager Bernd Schuster is hoping for home comfort when they host struggling Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
"Athletic are a strong team and they look a lot like an English team," said Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder. "But if we play was well as we did against Juventus we won't have any problems."
Real lie fifth three points off the summit after an indifferent start to the season but Schuster has chosen to attack match officials rather than his inconsistent stars.
The former Getafe coach tore into the referee after the Atletico game for disallowing two Real goals and Sunday's match referee Alvarez Izquierdo could come in for similar treatment.
Barcelona have the honour of being the only team in the Champions League with a maximum nine points from three matches after a 5-0 crushing of FC Basel on Wednesday.
Pep Guardiola's team are not in bad shape in the league either just three points behind pacesetters Valencia heading into Sunday's home game against Almeria at Camp Nou.
Barcelona are targeting a ninth successive win in all competitions as Guardiola stamps his mark on the team after taking over from Frank Rijkaard in the summer.
"Our focus is now on the league game at the weekend and to continue moving up the table," said Argentine star Lionel Messi. "We know what we want and we play for that in every game and never make presumptions."
Valencia have taken advantage of a kind fixture list - they have yet to play any of the top teams - to surge to the summit and hope to stay there with victory over Recreativo Huelva on Saturday.
Second-placed Sevilla, two points back from Valencia, host promoted Malaga on Sunday. Malaga have recovered from a bad start and sit seventh, a point better off than Atletico.
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