Malaga, Getafe and Real Sociedad earned vital wins at the weekend, but Almeria and Hercules both lost, as did Osasuna, Zaragoza and Racing to guarantee a nervous end to the season, whilst Bilbao have opened up a slight gap in the chase for UEFA spots
Rossi boosts Villarreal UCL hopes
Monday night’s game saw Giuseppe Rossi grab his 16th goal of the season when he scored from
the spot against Zaragoza to give Villarreal their first win in three and is now joint fourth in
the goalscorers table, level with Llorente and with only Cristiano Ronaldo, Villa and Leo Messi
ahead of him.
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.