Villarreal — Best pictures!

A winning goal in the dying minutes against visiting Real Madrid allowed Villarreal left-back Capdevila (pictured) to grab the first spot in the FTBL rating of defenders in La Liga.

Russian former international Andrey Tikhonov is proving that he has had an illustrious career: he recently broke into the list of best world veteran forwards with 49.42 points, and, despite playing for obscure Lokomotiv Astana in the Kazakhstan league,

Villarreal's Joan Capdevila (L) and Sevilla's Jesus Navas fight for the ball during their Spanish first division soccer match at the Madrigal Stadium in Villarreal.

Former France internationals Claude Makelele and Robert Pires, despite being way over 30 years of age, remain quite serious assets for their various teams.

Atletico Madrid were stunned by a 1:5 rout away against struggling Racing de Santander in La Liga action yesterday. The defeat dealt a stinging blow to Atletico’s European ambitions, pushing them down to 7th place in the standings.