Madrid target title hat-trick

Top quality
Last season's runners-up Villarreal CF and fellow UEFA Champions League contenders FC Barcelona and Club Atlético de Madrid all had a busy summer in the transfer market, but that has not been the case at the Santiago Bernabéu. But then they did retain the league crown by eight points last term and Schuster believes a similar success is possible again. "This is a newly formed group that has many good years ahead of it," he said. "We tried to bring in players but [apart from Rafael van der Vaart] it hasn't been possible. That doesn't take away from the quality we showed here last year, above all in the league where we were superior to the rest."

Villarreal bid
Villarreal only entered the top flight for the first time a decade ago but having achieved a club best second-placed finish in 2007/08, Manuel Pellegrini's side have every chance of taking a maiden title. "We're going into the season with high hopes but we're conscious of the fact we must maintain things like our high level of play, the atmosphere within the group and our humility," the Chilean coach said. "We have three important new players in [Joseba] Llorente, [Ariel] Ibagaza and Edmílson, who have quickly integrated into the team and who will certainly play an important role for us."

Barcelona ambitions
Barcelona have appointed Josep Guardiola and signed the likes of Gerard Piqué, Daniel Alves, Seydou Keita, Martín Cáceres and Aleksandr Hleb as they look to end a barren run of two years without a trophy. Finishing 18 points adrift of Madrid was hard to take last term, prompting midfielder Yaya Touré to vow: "We must win the league for our fans. This year we have a lot of quality and we've made some great signings but we know it's not only quality that counts because last year we also had that. There needs to be a lot of hard work and sacrifice."

Challengers
Javier Aguirre begins his third campaign in charge of Atlético and has strengthened his team with goalkeeper Grégory Coupet, and defenders Tomáš Ujfaluši and John Heitinga. Other challengers for a UEFA Champions League spot will most likely be Manolo Jiménez's Sevilla FC and Valencia CF who have a new coach in Unai Emery. Real Racing Club Santander's Juan Ramón López Muñiz faces the difficult task of emulating former coach Marcelino García Toral's huge achievement of a sixth-place finish last term. Promoted CD Numancia, Málaga CF and Real Sporting de Gijón will all be hoping to maintain their presence in Spain's top division.