Villarreal midfielder and former France international Robert Pires (pictured left) continued his ascent in the FTBL rating of veteran midfielders when he picked up 10 rating points in Villarreal’s 3:1 victory over Valencia on Saturday. He now has 77.44 points over all, behind only Juventus' Pavel Nedved and Man United's Ryan Giggs.

Pires’ rating benefited from the strong performances of his teammates: forward Llorente, who scored twice, boosted his rating to 158.12 points over all and is now among the best forwards of La Liga. Midfielder Ruben Cani had the third for Villarreal.

Meanwhile, Valencia’s striker-in-chief David Villa was unable to stop his drawn-out slide in the rating despite scoring the only goal for his side: he lost 22 rating points as we predicted and now has 142.37 points over all, which is not enough for a spot in the FTBL Top 23 for La Liga.