The Yellow Submarine are unbeaten in the Primera Liga since losing to leaders Real Madrid on January 27 - a run they continued with a 2-0 win over Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

With Real Madrid losing 1-0 at Deportivo La Coruna and Barca held to a 2-2 draw at Almeria, the result strengthened Villarreal's position in third place and put them within two points of Frank Rijkaard's second-placed team.

Now the former Madrid stopper knows if his side can keep their run going there is no reason why they should not think about overtaking the Catalans, or even of catching his old club at the summit.

"If Barcelona are in it then we are too and if they keep on slipping up then why can't we get involved in the fight for the league?" he said.

"We're on a good run of wins, in good form and high in confidence, and if we keep on like this we can assure ourselves of Champions League football next year which would be massive for us.

"Madrid have a great advantage and they should win the league, but stranger things have happened in football and therefore we'll just take it a game at a time and keep on picking up points."

Lopez warmed the Bernabeu bench for several seasons before making the move to El Madrigal last summer, and has seen first hand that teams at the top have let leads like Madrid's slip in the past.

"There was a year when (Carlos) Queiroz was at Madrid when they lost six of their last seven games and lost the league," he recalled.

"Last year too there was a big gap at the top but Madrid caught up. We'll see how Madrid and Barcelona go and then why not us?

"If things go as they have been we could fight for second place or something more."

Reflecting on Sunday's game at El Madrigal, Lopez claims the performance was even a step up from Villarreal's recent games.

"We did a lot of work in defence and managed to keep a clean sheet and get a big win for us," he said.

"Although they had chances the team was in good shape and we got things right up front - something we haven't been doing recently."