08.02.2010 13:02
Spanish League Roundup: Round 21
John Chaplin
The top three in La Liga all won this weekend while Mallorca took advantage of Sevilla’s defeat against Zaragoza to climb into fourth place. The three points take Zaragoza two points clear of the relegation zone.
With Barça, Real Madrid and Valencia all winning at the weekend the only change at the top of the
table is the consolidation of Mallorca in fourth place instead of the faltering Sevilla.
Barça’s cross-town rivals Espanyol put up only feeble resistance to Real Madrid in the
Bernabeu to lose 3-0, goals coming from Ramos, Kaka and Higuain.
Valencia made no mistake and cruised to a 2-0 victory over Valladolid in the Mestalla,
including yet another goal from the prolific David Villa. Former Barça player Onesimo, in his first
game as Valladolid manager, failed to stop his side slipping into the bottom three.
Mallorca notched up their 10th consecutive home win on Sunday, this time against another team
with a new manager, Villarreal. Mallorca manager Gregorio Manzano is getting excellent results from
his team, who are now serious contenders for a Champions League finish.
Meanwhile, Sevilla dropped out of the CL positions after losing 2-1 away to relegation
strugglers Zaragoza. The team from Aragon invested heavily in the winter transfer market and it
looks as if that may pay dividends, although it took an own goal from Sevilla’s Negredo
– who was later sent off – to seal the three points in Zaragoza’s favour.
Llorente stakes claim for Spain place
Deportivo cling on to sixth place, two points ahead of Athletic Bilbao, despite a goalless
draw away to Malaga, who are now three points clear of the drop zone and a similar distance from
mid-table respectability. For their part, Athletic Club finally dismissed Jerez 3-2 in Bilbao
thanks to two goals from Fernando Llorente (that makes 17 in all competitions this season), the
kind of return that may well attract the attentions of Spain manager Vicente del Bosque ahead of
the South Africa World Cup.
Osasuna beat Tenerife 1-0 to record their fourth win in a row and move within six points of
the European places. However, the defeat leaves the Canary Islanders in penultimate position, three
points adrift of safety.
Atletico Madrid continued to show the inconsistency that has dogged them all season and after
beating Racing 4-0 in the Cup earlier in the week, then slumped to a 1-1 draw against the same
opposition just a few days later. Finally, Almeria did themselves a big favour and beat Sporting
3-1 to move four points clear of the bottom three.