BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Villarreal has quietly mounted a potential dark horse title campaign through most of the first half of La Liga.
Now it has a chance to make it official when the “Yellow Submarine” hosts Barcelona on Sunday.
The team coached by Marcelino García Toral is in third place at eight points behind leader Barcelona and four behind second-placed Real Madrid. But it has played two fewer games than the powerhouses so it could easily be in an even stronger position.
Villarreal has disappointed in the Champions League and was eliminated from the Copa del Rey by a lower-division side this week. But La Liga is a different story. Villarreal is on a six-game winning run and its only two losses have come at Madrid and Atletico Madrid.
The game will pit the league's top defense in Villarreal with 13 goals allowed against the league's top attack. Barcelona has poured in 49 goals and more than made up for a sometimes shaky defense by outscoring its opponents.
Barcelona will look to both quash thoughts of a challenge by Villarreal and close 2025 on a high note this weekend.
An eighth consecutive league victory for Lamine Yamal and company would also keep the pressure on a Madrid side which is struggling.
Madrid hosts Sevilla on Saturday with coach Xabi Alonso in need of a convincing victory before they have the two-week winter break to ponder the team’s future.
Madrid needed a last-minute save by goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to avoid a potential embarrassment against a third-tier club in the Copa del Rey on Wednesday. That came after a lackluster win at Alaves in the Spanish league and back-to-back losses at home to Manchester City in the Champions League and Celta Vigo in La Liga.
Atletico Madrid, in fourth, visits Girona on Sunday, while fifth-placed Espanyol takes its surprising four-win run to Athletic Bilbao on Monday.
Villarreal has based its success on a team effort with several goal-scorers and playmakers. But left winger Alberto Moleiro stands out. He is having a breakout first season with the team and leads Villarreal with six league goals. Tajon Buchanan has added five goals, and midfielder Santi Comesaña helps a solid midfield.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has so far succeeded in making a left-side center back of Gerard Martín, who struggled to fill in at left back when Alejandro Balde was injured late last season.
Martín has five consecutive starts in the center of the defensive line as Flick tries to find a replacement for Íñigo Martínez, who left last summer for Saudi Arabia. Martín may be tested by Villarreal’s attack.
Villarreal will be missing injured veteran striker Gerard Moreno and defensive midfielder Pape Gueye, who is with Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Madrid’s backline remains diminished even after getting Antonio Rudiger and Dean Huijsen back healthy. Éder Militão, David Alaba, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dani Carvajal and Ferland Mendy are all injured. Álvaro Carreras is serving a suspension.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Villarreal's Alberto Moleiro, right, challenges for the ball with Copenhagen's Jordan Larsson during the Champions League opening phase soccer match between Villarreal and Copenhagen in Villarreal, Spain, Wednesday, Dec. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Alberto Saiz)
LJUBLJANA, Slovenia (AP) — Slovenia’s parliament on Friday appointed right-wing populist politician Janez Jansa as the new prime minister, in a shift for the small European Union country that was previously run by a liberal government.
Lawmakers backed Jansa in a 51-36 vote in the 90-member assembly. The new prime minister will need to come back to Parliament within the next 15 days for another vote to confirm his future Cabinet.
Jansa's appointment concludes a postelection stalemate in Slovenia after a parliamentary ballot two months ago ended practically in a tie. Former liberal Prime Minister Robert Golob's Freedom Movement won by a thin margin but he was unable to muster a parliamentary majority.
Jansa and his populist Slovenian Democratic Party signed a coalition agreement this week with several right-wing groups. The new government also has the backing of a nonestablishment Truth party that first emerged as an anti-vaccination movement during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The new term in office will be the fourth for the veteran Slovenian politician. Jansa, 67, is an admirer of U.S. President Donald Trump and was a close ally of former populist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who was defeated in a landslide election last month.
Jansa in a speech listed the economy, fight against corruption and red tape, and decentralization as key goals of the future government. He has promised to lower taxes for the rich and support private education and healthcare.
Critical of the previous government's alleged “inefficiency," Jansa said the new government will turn Slovenia into “a country of opportunity, prosperity and justice, where each responsible citizen will feel safe and accepted."
Like Orban, Jansa was staunchly anti-immigrant during the huge migration wave to Europe in 2015. Also like Orban, Jansa has faced accusations of clamping down on democratic institutions and press freedoms during a previous term in 2020-2022. This led to protests at the time, and scrutiny from the European Union.
Golob in his speech described Jansa as “the greatest threat to Slovenia’s sovereignty and democracy."
Alleging that Jansa had threatened to arrest him, Golob said Jansa's "idea of democracy is that anyone who dares speak a word against you deserves only the worst.”
Jansa, a supporter of Israel, also has been a stern critic of the Golob government's 2024 recognition of a Palestinian state.
The vote on March 22 was marred by allegations of foreign influence and corruption. The around 2 million people in the Alpine nation are deeply divided between liberals and conservatives.
Janez Jansa, center, addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)
Janez Jansa arrives for a session of the Slovenian Parliament in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)
Janez Jansa addresses the Slovenian Parliament during a session in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Friday, May 22, 2026, before appointing him as prime minister, ending a political deadlock after tight elections in March. (AP Photo/Igor Kupljenik)
