Villarreal sit atop La Primera for the first time in the club’s history. Outside90’s Dave Blackmore examines how they are performing against the leaders of Europe’s top five leagues.
Never before in the history of the Yellow Submarine have they been top of the pile in La Liga. With five wins and a draw from their opening six matches, the traditional heavyweights of Spanish football are looking up at the unfancied Amarillos.
Following last weekend’s victory over Atletico Madrid, coupled with Real Madrid’s inability to breach the Malaga defence and Eibar holding Celta Vigo at home, Villarreal will go into their next fixture at Levante as the top club.
Matches are coming thick and fast in Europe’s top five leagues and while still very early in the season, leaders are emerging from the pack. As the Yellow Submarine go to the 19th-placed Granites, Premier League leaders Manchester United will travel to London to take on the might of Arsenal. In Germany, all conquering Bayern Munich entertain fierce rivals Borussia Dortmund, French leaders PSG take on underperforming Marseille and surprise Serie A leaders Fiorentina welcome Atalanta.
The continued dominance of Bayern and PSG comes as no shock while a resurgent Manchester United are beginning to reassert their dominance in a new era for the club. The openness of Serie A has Fiorentina at the top on goal difference, but at this stage is still anyone’s for the taking.
Putting the five teams season records together would leave us with a ladder that would look like this:
| Played | Win | Draw | Loss | For | Against | Goal Difference | Points | ||
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 3 | +20 | 21 |
| 2 | PSG | 8 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 4 | +13 | 20 |
| 3 | Villarreal | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 4 | +8 | 16 |
| 4 | Manchester United | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 5 | +7 | 16 |
| 5 | Fiorentina | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 4 | +7 | 15 |
Bayern, not only the standout team in Germany but also all of Europe, hold the only 100% record. PSG and Villarreal are also undefeated but a few slip-ups between them have left them with draws. No team has managed to remain undefeated in the Premier League but United have only lost once, away at Swansea City. There still remains a team unbeaten in Italy in Sassuolo but Fiorentina’s efficiency in finishing games has them top.
The clearest number that stands out in the table, apart from Bayern’s seven from seven, is the uneven amount of games played. Averaging out a point per game table lends itself to a slight shake-up in standings.
| Played | Average Goal Difference | Average Points per game | ||
| 1 | Bayern Munich | 7 | +2.86 | 3 |
| 2 | Villarreal | 6 | +1.33 | 2.66 |
| 3 | PSG | 8 | +1.63 | 2.5 |
| 4 | Fiorentina | 6 | +1.16 | 2.5 |
| 5 | Man United | 7 | +1 | 2.29 |
Points per game shows just how good Villarreal have been to start the season, not Bayern Munich good, but not far off. Their average 2.66 points per game makes them the second best table-topper in Europe. Maybe a sign of a Premier League decline, which we have seen thus far in the Champions League. The Red Devils sit at the bottom of the table, only picking up 2.29 points per game.
Everything about Die Roten puts them ahead of the pack. They boast Europe’s highest scorer in Robert Lewandowski, the man with the most assists Douglas Costa and the meanest defence having only conceded three times.
Villarreal have not had a standout goalscorer in La Liga yet but all the forwards have been chipping in with goals. Cedric Bakambu has three goals to his name with two for both Roberto Soldado and Leo Baptistao. United are much the same with Anthony Martial and Juan Mata both getting three thus far without a top goalscorer emerging from the pack.
Edison Cavani has been leading the line admirably for the French champions with six goals, making him joint top scorer in Ligue 1. Four of Fiorentina’s 11 goals have come from Croatian attacker Nikola Kalinic who scored a hat-trick last time out against Inter.
Villarreal’s defence has been their best asset this season, having conceded fewer goals than every team in Europe’s top five leagues except five: Bayern, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Valencia and Malaga. PSG and Fiorentina can also make this claim, as could Chievo Verona and Lille but without being top of their respective leagues.
With all leagues considered, the feat Villarreal have achieved for the first time appears even more impressive. Not only are they the top team in Spain but if it were not for this exceptional Bayern Munich team and if every team had played the same amount of games, they could claim to be the top team in Europe.
Marcelino’s Yellow Submarine continue their assault on Spain this weekend at Levante and with the Valencian team underperforming, it would be hard to see any other result than the Amarillos extending their stay at the top of La Liga.
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