AP, Madrid :
Traditional Spanish clubs Villarreal, Valencia, and Athletic Bilbao entered the season with high hopes, looking to make a run against the powerful trio of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
Almost halfway through the league, they are just fighting to stay away from the relegation zone.
Athletic fired its coach last week. Villarreal did it on Monday, and Valencia is already under pressure to follow suit.
The season has been especially disappointing for Valencia and Villarreal, which were coming off great seasons. Valencia was fourth in the league and clinched a Champions League spot for the first time in six years. Villarreal finished fifth in the league for the second straight year.
Here’s a close look at the struggling clubs:
Villarreal didn’t make many changes to the team that succeeded in recent years, and it made a terrible start this season in winning only two of its first 11 matches.
The club is just outside the relegation zone with 14 points from 15 matches.
