Wait goes on for winless Osasuna

Osasuna's miserable start to the season continued with a 2-0 home loss to Real Betis on Saturday with Turkish international Mehmet Aurelio and Argentine Hugo Pavone on target.

New Osauna manager Jose Antonio Camacho is still waiting for his first win in charge and the Pamplona outfit are the only team in the league yet to register a win eight games into the season.

Betis climb to 12th with their second win of the campaign while Osasuna stay second from bottom.

It was a match-up between two teams that were among's Spain's elite not so long ago but are now regarded as relegation battlers.

Betis were fourth in 2005 and played Champions League football the following campaign while Osasuna finished fourth themselves in 2006 and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2007.

Those days must be a distant memory for both sides who fought relegation last season.

On 51 minutes Aurelio struck for Betis and Pavone netted five minutes from time as Osasuna pushed forward.

Later on Saturday, Barcelona aim to make it nine wins on the spin in all competitions with a home victory over Almeria.

Barca could replace Valencia at the top of the table with victory at Camp Nou and crank up the heat on their title rivals who are all in action 24 hours later.

“We have to remember that Almeria only have five points less than we do and are a very good team,” warned Barca manager Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola has not been afraid to promote youngsters from the reserves – with 20-year-old midfielder Sergi Busquets the real success story so far – claiming several youth team products could cut it at the top level.

“The youngsters are here to complement and to gradually break into the team,” explained Guardiola.

“I'm not surprised with their performances, because I knew them from the reserves. I was sure they wouldn't let me down.”

Real Madrid, level on 16 points with Barca, hope to respond to their 2-1 Champions League defeat to Juventus with a home win over Athletic Bilbao to appease their demanding Santiago Bernabeu public.

The feature game of the weekend takes place at El Madrigal on Sunday when Villarreal play host to Atletico Madrid.

Atletico have not fared well against the top teams this season losing to Sevilla, Barcelona and Real Madrid in their last three matches.

Villarreal are unbeaten in third while Atletico are down in eighth position.

Tabletoppers Valencia travel to Recreativo Huelva on Sunday while Sevilla, two points behind in second, host Malaga on the same day.