Unheralded Levante took outright possession of La Liga leadership for the first time in their 102-year history on Sunday with a 3-0 win at Villarreal. Levante, who just avoided relegation last season, are in the unlikely position of looking down on Real Madrid and Barcelona with 20 points thanks to a six-match winning streak which began with a win over Real.
Bubbling with confidence, they went ahead through Juanlu Gomez after 16 minutes against Villarreal, who looked weary after their mid-week clash at Manchester City in the Champions League. The pace of the Levante forward line was causing plenty of problems and Juanlu got his second before the break. In the second half Villarreal were unable to raise their game and Arouna Kone blasted home shortly before the hour mark to ensure the three points for Levante who survive on a modest 12-million-euro budget.
A last-minute Roberto Soldado goal earned Valencia a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao, but the result will not ease fans' discontent as the team have now won just once in seven games. Despite lying in fifth place and just five points off the top, Valencia have had a poor run recently with just one victory against Granada while they will need to win their remaining Champions League matches to progress to the next round.