FCBARCELONA.CAT

11.01.2010 16:27

Spanish League Round up Week 17

Real Madrid, Valencia and Deportivo all won at the weekend and occupy the other Champions League positions behind Barca, whilst Seville’s league slump continued with a home defeat to Racing.

Real Madrid went top for just as long as it took Messi and co to see off Tenerife, when they beat Mallorca 2-0 at a snowy Bernabeu. Higuain and Granero were on target for Pellegrini’s team who lost Van der Vaart with a torn muscle that could see him out for between a month and six weeks. Valencia strengthened their position behind Madrid after a 1-3 win over bottom club Jerez with goals from Mata, Silva and Marchena. David Villa again failed to score, it’s now four games on the run without a goal and he’s now tied as the league’s leading scorer with Leo Messi.

The defeat was Jerez’s 12th of the season in which they’ve so far managed just 7 goals and 1 win. With Seville and Mallorca both going down, Deportivo moved into fourth with a 1-0 win over Osasuna. The Pamplona team, whose disciplinary record was appalling last season, were again seeing red with Javed Nekounam getting his second early bath of the season.

Seville gloom deepens

Seville’s troubles deepened when they went down 1-2 at home to Racing, a result that saw them drop to fifth, just ahead of Mallorca on goal difference. The damage to Seville was done by Racing’s sensational young striker Sergio Canales, who’s now scored four times in four starts for the team and put the visitors two up with two great goals within the first 40 minutes. Although Romaric pulled one back in the second half, Seville have now taken just 15 points from a possible 27 – only one more than Tenerife who are down in 17th place.

Atletico reply to critics

Atletico Madrid responded to recent criticism with a 0-4 thumping of Valladolid with goals from Jurado, Forlan, Reyes and Aguero, whilst Villarreal saw their recent climb up the table halted when they were held 1-1 by Almeria. Sporting kept in touch with the UEFA places by beating fellow aspirants Getafe 1-0 in Gijon, whilst Bilbao kept up their challenge with a 1-1 draw at Malaga.