Villarreal dropped to third after a 0-0 draw with Espanyol on Saturday, as the top five teams of La Liga take hold of the league. With Valencia at the top after barely surviving last year, there is a great chance of the top five reversing itself completely in the next month and a half, as all five begin to play each other in a row.
Fans of Villarreal and Spain will be proud to see Marcos Senna as a finalist for the Ballon D'Or. It is an honor, but of course, one to be taken in perspective, as it is only the final 30. Not a bad list to be on though. I expect Diego Lopez to be on it in a couple of years...
For Jozy supporters, he managed ten minutes at the end of the match against Espanyol, a sign that Pellegrini has not forgotten him, and that perhaps the Villarreal manager caught a little of the US/Cuba match.
Injury Update: Villarreal are short a few big names for the upcoming match against Aalborg. Nihat, Eguren, Ibagaza and Edmilson missed the Espanyol match because of injury. Mati was not with the club because he had been late returning from his assignment with Chile. Edmilson and Mati will be back for the Champions League match, but the rest will continue to be out. The call-up list for the Aalborg match will be:
Keepers: Diego Lopez, Viera;
Defenders: Javi Venta, Angel, Gonzalo, Godín, Fuentes, Cygan, Capdevila;
Midfielders: Senna, Edmilson, Bruno, Cazorla, Cani, Pires, Mati;
Forwards: Guille Franco, Rossi and Llorente.
Villarreal take on Aalborg in El Madrigal at 2:45 eastern on Tuesday, October 21. It should come as no surprise to those of us used to getting snubbed in the TV department that a game against little Aalborg is not going to make it to any of the ESPN networks. That should be the case in two weeks as well for the return trip in Denmark.