La Liga Results & Reports: Week 32

We look back on all of this weekend's spanish football action from the Primera Liga: on a weekend when Barcelona were held to a controversial draw at Recreativo, Valencia plunged further in to crisis following a defeat to Racing Santander and Real Madrid extend their lead at the top of La Liga to 9 points...

LA LIGA RESULTS

Saturday 12 April 2008 (Spanish Time)
20:00 Valencia 1 - Racing 2 FT
22:00 Recreativo 2 - Barcelona 2 FT

Sunday 13 April
17:00 Valladolid 1 - At. Madrid 1 FT
17:00 Betis 0 - Levante 1 FT
17:00 Getafe 0 - Zaragoza 0 FT
17:00 Espanyol 0 - Osasuna 1 FT
17:00 Deportivo 3 - Athletic 0 FT
17:00 Mallorca 2 - Sevilla 3 FT
19:00 R. Madrid 1- Murcia 0 FT
21:00 Almería 1 - Villarreal 0

LA LIGA MATCH REPORTS

REAL MADRID 1 REAL MURCIA 0

Real Madrid have moved nine points clear at the top of Liga after seeing off a poor Murcia side at the Bernabeu on Sunday evening.

The match had threatened to provide an upset, when, after just 19 minutes , Miguel Torres was shown a straight red for viciously dragging his studs down the back of Dani Aquino's leg.

Murcia failed to exploit their numerical advantage and rarely tested Casillas in the home side's goal. However, this was not an easy win for Real and the familiar doubts were starting to creep in , until Sneijder gave them the lead thirteen minutes in to the second half.

The visitors had promised to make life difficult for Real Madrid, but in the end they offered no more than token opposition to a side in pursuit of their second successive Liga title.

In reference to his comments that he would park the Murcia bus in front of goal if necessary, Clemente said afterwards:" we parked the bus, but we parked it very badly."

Madrid are now nine points clear of their nearest rivals, Barcelona, and it would appear that the title race has almost been decided. However, with six games left to play, the Madrid sporting director, Pedrag Mijatovic said afterwards:" We're not going to make such calculations until we're champions."

Valencia 1 Racing Santander 2

Racing Santander's astonishing season continues after their 2-1 away win over Valencia leaves them level on points with fourth placed Atletico Madrid.

Racing took the lead after an hour had been played, only for substitute David Villa to equalise from the spot four minutes later. As the match wore on, Valencia pushed for an equaliser, but were left reeling when Racing hit them on the counter attack with just nine minutes remaining. Pablo Alvarez centred the ball for Tchite who powered a header beyond Hildebrand and in to the back of the Valencia net.

Marcelino's Racing are looking good for a UEFA cup spot, and with just six games left to play, Champions League qualification remains a distinct possibility. The positive mood in Santander could not contrast more strongly with the sense of despair and negativity that engulfs the Mestalla right now.

Valencia came in to Saturday's game on the back of two consecutive defeats, including a humiliating loss to second from bottom side Murcia, and tonight the Mestalla crowd let their feelings known. The defeat leaves Valencia in fourteenth place, just six points above the drop zone and they could find themselves even farther down the table by Monday, with most of their closest rivals yet to play their games on Sunday.

Koeman must rouse his side for the Copa del Rey final against Getafe on Wednesday: a match that his must surely win if he is to stand any chance of remaining in charge at the Mestalla until the end of the season.

Recreativo Huelva - FC Barcelona

A hugely frustrating 2-2 draw for Barcelona at struggling Recreativo Huelva on Saturday night must surely signal the end of Barcelona's hope of winning the La Liga title this season.

The headlines should all have been about Lio Messi's return to action after missing the last six weeks of the season through injury. However, the Catalan press will undoubtedly focus upon a hugely controversial, and erroneous, refereeing decision that cost Barcelona all three points.

Samuel Eto'o had given Barcelona an early lead, until four minutes before the interval Marco Ruben headed the ball toward Victor Valdes in the Barcelona goal. The Barcelona keeper saved the header on the line - as the television replays conclusively prove - but the assistant referee adjudged that the ball had gone in and the goal was given to the home side.

Understandably, Barcelona were furious, and they responded well in the early stages of the second half. Samuel Eto'o gave the visitors the lead for the second time just after the break with a stunning strike from the edge of the area.However, Barcelona resorted to type following the goal and their performance became typical of what we have seen in recent weeks: lacklustre, predictable and lacking in both commitment and cohesion.

Once again Barcelona were their own worst enemies as they allowed Recreativo back in to the game and there was something of the inevitable about Ruben's 70th minute equaliser.

The draw leaves Barcelona six points behind leaders Real Madrid and just one point above third placed Villarreal both of whom play on Sunday.

Recre, meanwhile, now have 37 points with six games remaining and are four clear of the bottom three; ensuring that Zaragoza will remain in the drop zone regardless of their result against Getafe on Sunday.

Mallorca 2 Sevilla 3

Sevilla's 3-2 away win at Real Mallorca on Sunday augments their claim on a UEFA cup spot for next season.
The win sees Sevilla finish the weekend in sixth and moves them a comfortable six points clear of Espanyol in the chase for the final European place.

Both Sevilla and Mallorca came in to the match on the back some decent results; Sevilla had seen off Villarreal last weekend and Mallorca had registered an impressive win over Valencia, followed by a draw against league leaders Real Madrid.

This was a good win for Sevilla, only their fifth away from home all season: Manolo Jimenez's side have lost nine games away from the Sanchez Pizjuan and their away from has probably cost them a Champions League placing.

The visiting side started the match badly, yet they took the lead through Renato against the run of play. When Guiza scored for Mallorca just four minutes later, the equaliser was thoroughly deserved.

Sevilla started brightly after the interval and were able to put the game beyond Mallorca, courtesy of substitute Frederic Kanoute and Daniel Alves who scored in the space of nine second half minutes. Undoubtedly, Alves' 30 yard strike will be remembered as one of the goals of the season.

Mallorca grabbed a consolation goal thanks to a header from Webo, who got on the end of Juan Arango's cross in the final minute minute of the match: too late to push for a share of the points.

The defeat leaves Mallorca wallowing in mid table, just one point short of guaranteed Primera Liga safety, with six games remaining.

Valladolid 1 Atletico Madrid 1

Bartholomew Ogbeche grabbed a last minute equaliser for Real Valladolid on Sunday to deny fourth placed Atletico Madrid a win that would have consolidated their Champions League qualification hopes.

Maxi Rodriguez gave the visitors the lead when he broke the deadlock midway through the second half. However, Atleti were left stunned when Nigeria forward Ogbeche levelled the match for Valladolid in the 89th minute.

Fifth placed Racing Santander's win at Valencia means that Atleti are just one point above their nearest rivals for that all important fourth place. Meanwhile, the draw, leaves Valladolid on 39 points, five above the drop zone.

Getafe 0 Zaragoza 0

A surprisingly strong defensive performance from Zaragoza ensured that they came away with a point from their trip to Getafe. The Madrid side had endured a punishing week after being knocked out of the UEFA cup by Bayern Munich on Wednesday, and it appeared to take its toll on Sunday: Getafe were taken to extra time in midweek and they looked sluggish from the start on this evening. With the copa del Rey final to play this Wednesday, Laudrup's men looked distracted.

Zaragoza did well to hang on, spending the final 18 minutes of the match with just ten men after Matuzalem picked up his second yellow of the game for a foul on Sousa.

The draw leaves requiring just two points away from guaranteed Primera Liga safety, while Zaragoza remain rooted in the bottom three, three points below Recreativo in 17th place.

ESPANYOL 0 OSASUNA 1

Espanyol feel to their fourth straight defeat, going down 1-0 to Osasuna at Montjuic.

Ernesto Valverde's side are in a seemingly unstoppable downward spiral after starting the season so well: they have now lost nine of their last seven games and have failed to score in four. The 17 match unbeaten run that saw them rise to third in the table before Christmas now feel like a very long time ago.

The defeat leaves Espanyol in eight place, six points adrift of sixth placed Sevilla and the final European spot.

The visitors grabbed the points thanks to January signing Martin Astudillo who scored the only goal of the match.
Tottenham target, Carlos Kameni dropped Patxi Punal's free-kick at the feet of Astudillo and the Argentinian tapped the ball home to give Osasuna the lead after 30 minutes of play.

The win moves Osasuna up in to 14th place, leapfrogging Valencia, and the Pamplona club now need just 2 points to guarantee survival with six games remaining.

REAL BETIS 0 LEVANTE 1

Bottom side Levante snatched a rare 1-0 away win at Real Betis on Sunday. Pedro Leon struck the only goal of the match on 54 minutes and brought to an end the home sides 3 game winning run.

This was only their second away win of the season, and it means that the Valencia club have managed to postpone the drop: for another fortnight at least. Levante remain bottom of La Liga, with just 22 points, 16 away from safety with six games remaining.

ALMERIA 1 VILLARREAL 0

The final game of the weekend saw Villarreal miss an opportunity to move up in to second place with a defeat at Almeria.

Santiago Acasiete snatched a late winner against a Villarreal side that struggled throughout the match after having their keeper, Diego Lopez, dismissed 17 minutes in to the match.

The Villarreal goalkeeper was shown a straight red for felling Albert Crusat in the area, and although Alvaro Negredo fluffed the resulting penalty, the dismissal decided the tie. Substitute keeper Juan Sanchez caused mayhem in the Villarreal goal and his performance sucked the confidence out of the players in front of him. A dodgy keeper, and a numerical disadvantage, meant that the visitors never looked like coming away with anything other than a defeat.

However, Almeria had to wait until the 84th minute to get their winner. Sanchez pushed Paunovic's diving header in to the path of Acasiete, who prodded home the rebound.

The draw all but ends any faint hope that Villarreal have of winning the La Liga title: they remain in third, one point behind Barcelona and ten points adrift of leaders Real Madrid. There is still all to play for however, as Pellegrini's men travel to Valladolid next week in pursuit of the all important second league placing, thereby avoiding the dreaded Champions League qualifiers.

This was an important win for Almeria, on the back of a crushing 6-3 hammering at Atletico Madrid last week. The win pushes the newly promoted side up in to seventh place, six points off a UEFA Cup place.