The race for the Spanish Primera Liga title between Barcelona and Real Madrid is fiercer than ever following a dramatic match day on Sunday.
|
|
|
Real Madrid's Raul Gonzalez from Spain (L) reacts after scoring with teammates during their La Liga soccer match against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan stadium in Sevilla, Sunday, April 26, 2009.
|
Both sides meet next Saturday in Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and Juande Ramos' men will be optimistic of moving within touching distance of the league leaders after a tense weekend in Spain.
Sunday's big game saw Real Madrid win 4-2 at Sevilla. Madrid coach Ramos was given a hostile welcome by the fans at his former club and Sevilla started very strongly.
Renato opened the scoring and things were looking good for Sevilla until around the half hour mark, when they lost control of the game. Madrid levelled the scores on the stroke of halftime when Raul turned home a cross by Cristoph Metzelder.
Two further goals from Raul in the second half looked to have sealed Real Madrid's win, before Diego Capel scored to make it 2-3 and give his side hope. However Marcelo sealed the win with a goal late into injury time.
The result leaves Madrid just four points behind Barcelona.
 |
|
Atletico Madrid also had a good day with a 3-1 win against Sporting Gijon. Diego Forlan, Kun Aguero and Simao Sabrosa, who was later sent off, netted for the home side.
|
Atletico Madrid also had a good day with a 3-1 win against Sporting Gijon. Diego Forlan, Kun Aguero and Simao Sabrosa, who was later sent off, netted for the home side.
Elsewhere Villarreal won 2-1 in Getafe to leave the home side in danger of relegation. Joseba Llorente and Joan Capdevila scored for Villarreal.
Mallorca's 4-2 win in Huelva leaves Recreativo second from bottom, four points from safety, while Espanyol defeated Betis 2-0 to climb out of the bottom three, something that looked impossible just two months ago.
Athletic Bilbao also looks to be safe from relegation thanks to a 2-1 win against Racing Santander in a game where referee Gonzalez Vazquez set a new record after showing 17 yellow and 6 red cards.
Just seven days previously the same referee had shown 15 yellows and two reds in a game between Valencia and Sevilla.
Finally Valladolid and Osasuna produced a dull 0-0 draw in the Nuevo Zorilla stadium.
Barcelona could only draw 2-2 away to Valencia on Saturday night in a tight game. Valencia had won its last five league matches, but Barcelona took a first half lead through Leo Messi.
A bad mistake from Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes gifted Valencia a goal just before half time and the home side took the lead a minute later through winger Pablo Hernandez.
The league leader threw everything at Valencia in the second half and was rewarded in the last 10 minutes, when Thierry Henry levelled the scores.
Valencia meanwhile is now looking a hot favorite to finish in the top four and even to finish third ahead of Sevilla.
Saturday also saw Malaga draw 1-1 with Deportivo La Coruna in a game between two sides hopeful of playing in Europe next season, while Almeria won 2-1 at home to Numancia.
That result all but assures Almeria will avoid relegation, while Numancia is bottom of the table and looking doomed to play in the second division next season.
