FCBARCELONA.CAT

21.12.2009 11:30

Spanish League Roundup: Week 15

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Sevilla and Valencia both dropped points this weekend and missed the opportunity to close the gap on Barça. Meanwhile, down at the wrong end of the table there was some respite for Malaga.

Surprise defeat for Sevilla

The duel between Deportivo and Valencia for a place in the top four ended in a goalless stalemate at the Riazor on Sunday. Both sides enjoyed plenty of chances but the final touch was missing. However, Mallorca failed to take advantage of the opportunity to overtake Valencia in fourth place and slumped to a rather surprising defeat away to Malaga. For Malaga it was the first league victory since the opening day of the season. Also down in Andalusia, Sevilla conceded a 1-2 defeat to Getafe, both goals coming from former Real Madrid striker Roberto Soldado. Sevilla have now taken just two points from their last three home games.

Zaragoza collapse

Zaragoza’s new boss failed to revitalize his team and they collapsed to a 6-0 defeat away to Real Madrid on Saturday. The match was effectively over within the opening half hour as Real Madrid swept four past a poor Zaragoza defence. The result leaves Zaragoza languishing in last place but one while real Madrid move to within two points of Barça.

Espanyol finally reversed the run of five defeats in a row with a 2-0 home win against fellow strugglers Almeria. While the result was good news for Espanyol coach Pochettino, it was the final straw for the board of Almeria who immediately announced that Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez had been dismissed.

At the start of the weekend, Racing. Atletico Madrid and Valladolid were all tied with Almeria and Espanyol on 13 points. Racing got no joy in their visit to a rapidly improving Villarreal side and went down 2-0. The three points leave Villarreal in the top half of the table at the end of 2009 despite only taking 3 points from their opening 7 league matches. Valladolid narrowly beat Sporting 2-1, the winning goal coming in the 90th minute while Tenerife and Atletico Madrid drew 1-1 in the Canary Islands - though Atletico have their goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo to thank for limiting the damage to just one goal.

Basque derby in Bilbao

Bilbao and Osasuna met in a Basque derby on Saturday evening and within 12 minutes Bilbao found themselves 2-0 in the lead, a lead they clung onto to the final whistle.