Marcos Senna is backing his former Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini to be a success at Real Madrid.

Pellegrini swapped El Madrigal for the Bernabeu this summer after five seasons in charge of Villarreal, and he now has the massive task at Madrid of trying to knit 250million euros worth of new talent into a trophy-winning - and entertaining - side.

All eyes will be on the Chilean as he sets about trying to bring the glory days back to the Spanish giants, but Senna is confident his old boss at Villarreal can do just that.

"I think so yes. He's very intelligent, and is always close to his players. What he did at Villarreal was something very big," said Senna.

In the five seasons under Pellegrini's command, Villarreal recorded league finishes of third, seventh, fifth, second and fifth - having never before finished higher than seventh in their history - while the former River Plate boss also guided them to the Champions League semi-finals in 2006.

"He's not going to have any problems because he has a team with a lot of quality and a lot of hunger," added Senna.

As for his club's chances of challenging big-spending duo Madrid and Barcelona this season, Senna hopes Villarreal can be right up there again, but admits it will take some doing for any side to stop one of the big two taking the title again.

When asked if he thought La Liga will be a fight between Madrid and Barca, Senna told Marca: "In theory, yes. Because of what they have spent, their history...but I hope there will be a surprise and that it will be us.

"Villarreal's objective is to do something great, that's what we are going to fight for."