Meet La Liga's humble new leader

For the first time in its 102-year history plucky Levante sits alone at the top of La Liga. The tiny Valencia-based club, which operates on a 20-million-euro budget more fitting to the Segunda División, displaced overnight leader Real Madrid (operating budget 500 million) at the head of the table after hammering Villarreal 0-3 at El Madrigal on Sunday night.

Remarkably, it was the team's sixth win on the trot and, along with Barcelona and Sevilla, it remains undefeated this season. And with 20 points notched up in the eight games so far, it's already halfway to the 40-point mark usually cited as the figure needed to ensure Primera survival, which - let's face it - was the best most people would have hoped for the club when the season kicked off.

At the same stage last season Levante lay down in 15th, hovering just above the relegation zone, eventually saving itself with a brilliant second-half display. Now with Juan Ignacio Martínez on the bench instead of Luis García Plaza, who headed off to Getafe for a million-euro salary, it is surprising the whole world of soccer.

But you only have to watch Levante play to appreciate that a lot of work and conviction lies behind its success. The team's powers of concentration at the back are supreme, with its veteran defenders - led by 36-year-old captain Sergio Ballesteros - barely giving away space or gaps to their rivals.

Neither is it too shabby going forward. The players never take their eyes off the opposition goal, as was the case on Sunday night against a Villarreal that seems to have lost its soul since the sale of Santi Cazorla to Málaga over the summer. One of Levante's crop of thirtysomethings rejected by other clubs, midfielder Juanlu, 31, netted in the 16th minute and then again three minutes before half time to give the visitor a comfortable lead. On-loan Ivorian striker Arouna Koné (Sevilla) then finished the job off just before the hour mark.

Despite its run of dazzling displays, coach Martínez is determined to keep his team focused. "What the team has achieved is something to enjoy, to be leaders of this league ahead of such great teams, it's something very special," he said. "But despite this, we need to keep on working; we need to keep our feet on the ground and to be conscious there is still a long way to go.

"Our aim is to avoid relegation," he emphasized.

Levante will be continuing to avoid the drop against Real Sociedad midweek, while its opponent Villarreal will be quaking at the thought of another potential thrashing when it visits the Bernabéu Wednesday evening.

Elsewhere, Levante's local rival Valencia, which drew 1-1 with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday evening, travels to Zaragoza Wednesday, without on-loan midfielder Sergio Canales, who suffered a knee injury in that match and is expected to be on the sidelines for some time. Also on Wednesday Málaga travels to the capital to play another surprise package, Rayo Vallecano, which scarcely operates on a budget at all after the disastrous running of the club by the Ruiz-Mateos family, whose Nueva Rumasa conglomerate has crumbled as much as Rayo was expected to upon its return to the top flight.

However, there are few places where the crowd is more vociferous than the southern Madrid suburb and even on its travels Rayo has picked a pocket or two, as it did at Betis last weekend. Málaga is smarting from its thrashing in the clash between new and old money in La Rosaleda, when Real stuffed four goals past them in the first half with consummate ease.

Barcelona makes the trip to struggling Granada, where its comparatively paltry return of six goals in four games will likely be redressed, while Sevilla, which held the champion to nil last weekend, faces an increasingly desperate Racing Santander, a club showing where being cash-strapped usually leaves you in La Liga - at the foot of the table.