FCBARCELONA.CAT

19.04.2010 15:51

Spanish League Roundup Week 33

Real Madrid (2nd) secured a 2-0 home victory against Valencia (3rd) to keep up the pressure on Barca while Sevilla moved back into fourth spot pending the result of the match between Mallorca and Osasuna on Monday evening.

Meanwhile, at the foot of the table, a win for Tenerife at home to Getafe, combined with a goalless draw between Malaga and Valladolid moved the Canary Islanders to within a point of safety.

Real keep up the pressure

Real Madrid produced one of their better performances of the season to beat Valencia 2-0 in the Bernabeu on Sunday evening. The goals came from the usual suspects, Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Meanwhile, Sevilla cruised to a 3-0 victory in the Sanchez Pizjuan against a bland Sporting Gijon. Sporting have lost their last three games in a row and now find themselves drawn uncomfortably close to the relegation zone. By contrast, the three points put Sevilla back into fourth place on 54 points, two ahead of Mallorca (5th), who face Osasuna in the Ono Estadi on Monday evening.

Competition for Europa League places

While the battle for the fourth Champions League place focuses mainly on Mallorca and Sevilla, at least four more teams come into the mix for fifth and sixth places and qualification for next season’s Europa League. Villarreal beat Atletico 2-1 to move up into sixth place while Bilbao could only manage a goalless draw at home to Zaragoza and slip back to seventh, though tied on 49 points with Villarreal. Getafe missed a golden opportunity to climb to sixth in the table and slumped to a 3-2 defeat in Tenerife. As for Deportivo, they must be wishing the league programme had ended a few weeks back. They fought out a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Almeria and now find themselves in ninth place on 44 points, five points adrift of a Europa League finish.

Relegation still undecided

Plucky Jerez – who come to the Camp Nou next weekend - continue to languish at the bottom of the table but are steadfastly refusing to lie down and accept relegation back to the Second Division. They drew 2-2 at home to Racing this weekend but remain six points short of safety.
Finally, the relegation six pointer between Malaga and Valladolid fizzled out to a goalless draw and leaves Malaga just one point clear of the drop zone on 33 points while Valladolid remain penultimate with 29 points.