With the top two busy at the Bernabeu, Valencia continued their recent run of good form in third with a 0-3 thrashing of Almeria, whilst Villarreal beat Zaragoza 1-0 to maintain their hopes of Champions League qualification. Nine points below the top four, Bilbao’s 1-2 win in Pamplona gave them a two point lead over Atletico Madrid who drew at Espanyol, and Seville, who lost at Getafe.

Baptista leads Malaga win

Malaga boss Pellegrini reckoned his team needed 12 points more to beat the drop and they got the first 3 of those on Saturday when Julio Baptista grabbed two goals in the 3-0 win over Mallorca which leaves them on 33 points, level with Zaragoza and just two behind Osasuna, who lost to a last minute Muniain goal for Athletic Bilbao after Llorente had earlier equalised. That was the third defeat on the run for Osasuna and the early fillip from coach Mendilibar seems to have fizzled out just as the team go into a terribly tough end of season, starting at the Nou Camp next week.

Lifeline for Getafe

Getafe also got a much needed win, with Miku’s goal enough to see off Seville and give Michel’s team only their second win of 2011 and take them to 14th on 37 points. Racing Santander are level with Getafe after losing 2-0 at Deportivo, who move a point above them, whilst Real Sociedad’s 2-1 win over Sporting took them to 12th on 38 points. Alongside Racing, Osasuna and Zaragoza, the big losers were the bottom two clubs, Hercules on 30 points after losing 2-1 at Llevant, and Almeria, who were pummelled 0-3 by Valencia and sit bottom with just 26.

Tight run in

The remaining 9 points from the 12 Pellegrini’s set his players will have to come from trips to Racing, Atletico Madrid and Bilbao or the three home games against Hercules, Sporting and on the final day of the season…. Barca. As Malaga’s run in ends with Guardiola’s team, so Osasuna’s begins at the Nou Camp next weekend, followed by further trips to Zaragoza and Getafe, with Valencia, Seville and Villarreal to play in Pamplona. As well as playing Osasuna, Zaragoza entertain Almeria and Espanyol, with visits to Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Llevant before the campaign finishes. Hercules may have the easiest looking run in with four home games –against Deportivo, Racing , Mallorca and Sporting, as well as away games at Malaga and Atletico Madrid., whilst Racing also have 4 home games, versus Malaga, Mallorca, Atletico and Bilbao, with trips to Hercules and Sporting.

Bilbao edge ahead in UEFA fight

The teams in the fight for UEFA spots continue to fail to put together any real consistency, with just Bilbao getting a win this weekend –only their third in their last 8 games. Seville’s defeat made it 2 defeats and 3 draws in their last 8 and that inconsistency has let Atletico Madrid back into the race, with Quique Sanchez’s team getting a 2-2 draw at Espanyol their fourth in their last 8, together with 3 wins and just one defeat. Two goals from Osvaldo weren’t enough to give Espanyol the points at Cornella, with Koke and Kun getting Atletico’s goals. Espanyol are now just 3 points ahead of Llevant whose win over Hercules was their eighth in the last 11 games.