Villarreal kept with the same spirits that they have initiated with in La Liga by beating Celtic 1 v 0 at home last night thanks to a direct free kick slotted home in the 66th minute by Senna. They now stand second in the league on four points while Manchester Utd are top on goal difference.

It's was a vital win for Villarreal but manager Pellegrini said that the result didn't reflect what happened on the pitch 'It was hard and complicated, at this level there is little difference between the teams,' he said. He thinks his team was the better side but has noted that there is still a lot of work to do 'To clasify we need ten points, we've got four but there's still a long way to go even though Celtic and Aalborg have dropped points.' It's a great start though, to go away at Manchester and get a point, even though Manchester were off form, was an excellent start and to beat Celtic has lined them up in a pretty sexy position.

Gordon Strachan wasn't happy with the decision about the free kick which led to the goal 'My players aren't convinced it was a foul, I'm not going to comment on it because you can see it on the television, all I'm saying is that it was decisive.' You're not wrong there Strachan; join the club, it seems like at the end of every major game the referee's decision has a vital impact, but that's nothing new I suppose. Strachan has already admitted there is a huge mountain to climb; but nothing's impossible, look at how Liverpool started last year and they got to the Semis.

The stats show that Villarreal had 62% of the ball possession and had more shots on goal and won more corners, the only things that Celtic had more of was fouls committed and yellow cards, perhaps a bit of frustration flying about.

Either way it's an excellent start for Pellegrini's boys, lets hope they can keep it up and qualify!

Villarreal are currently top and surely they're going to be top after this weekend's 5th Jornada where they face Sporting away on Saturday night. If you were the manager of Villarreal what would you be telling your team? Go one boys, it's Friday night, go and have a few beers and tapas, there's no need to worry about tomorrow's game.

Well, manager Manuel Pellegrini isn't letting his guard down and has said that the holes in Sporting's defense 'doesn't guarantee anything'. 'They are playing at home and we need to play to our maximum if we're going to get a result,' he added also saying that 'Every game is history.' I agree with you there Pellegrini, but this history book's already been written hasn't it?

 (maybe it has yes)

Villarreal may be concentrating on their game next week against Celtic in the Champions league, but if they are to remain top they need a result this Saturday night. I don't think it will be the same rugby score as against Barca and Madrid, maybe more, whatever happens there's a definite three points in the bag for Pellegrini and his boys.

Don't worry I'm not talking about my prediction for the final positions of La Liga this year (although it would be nice), I'm talking about the order of oppositions that teams have to face.

This would never happen in the Prem, could you imagine it? Every team has to play, Liverpool, Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal in a row, no way jose! What do you think? Isn't it about time they changed this system, or if it is a fluke this year then maybe they should havethought about it? The Sesame gang say aren't happy with it.

Guti has received the honor of scoring the 5,000 goal in La Liga. He popped in an equalizer against Numancia in the 18th minute to make him the 5,000 person to make the net ripple in Spain. Raul won the honor for the 4,500th goal.

Elsewhere, Espanyol beat Recreativo 1 v 0 to go top of the league, Valencia lost 2 v 1 against Almeria and Villarreal beat Deportivo 1 v 0, Malaga v Athletic and Getafe v Betis were both 0 v 0.

It's still early days and things aren't looking cushty for the Barca and Real at the moment. Let’s hope we get some more saucy Numancia action next week and keep the top two on their toes.

NEXT WEEK BIG DERBY BETIS V SEVILLA!