Málaga beat Sporting 1-0 yesterday, which means they've now scored 28 (and conceded 28) goals in 29 games. Yet, still they're in 8th place, six points off the European places (assuming CdR finalists Barça, 1st, and Sevilla, 5th, won't drop out of them)... Further evidence of a successful trend that some teams seem to have found in keeping up with the offensive might of the Big Two in the form of solidity in defence (though it's a bit of "a balancing act") --
Atléti are 2nd after 28 games: 42 goals for, 12 against
Villarreal are 4th after 28 games: 33 goals for, 19 against (also very impressive in Europe so far, 2-1 on agg. v Napoli and 2-0 v Bayer Leverkusen in 1st leg)
Last season Málaga managed to keep a treble-bound Barça scoreless in both league games (0-0 draw at La Rosaleda and even a 1-0 win at Camp Nou); this time around they took pts from RM in both games (0-0 at Bernabéu & 1-1 at La Rosaleda) and fought Barça tooth and nail twice narrowly losing: 0-1 at Camp Nou & 1-2 at La Rosaleda. Unfortunately they don't have the offensive firepower of Atléti or organisation & transitions of the Yellow Submarine. Their position in the table is still somewhat impressive when you consider you'll usually find teams that score at less than a 1 gpg average near the bottom of said table.
The attacking exploits of the likes of Celta, Athletic, Sevilla and... Eibar (!) have brought them success to a certain extent, but they seem much less consistent because of it than the above mentioned two defensive colossuses.