Spanish League Roundup: round 4

23.09.2010 10:00

Spanish League Roundup: round 4

Nick Bedson

Wednesday’s narrow win against Sporting was enough to catapult Barça to third place in the table pending the results of the three games to be played on Thursday.

With ten midweek games spread over three days, there’s been plenty of movement in the league table. Real Madrid and Valencia currently lead the way thanks to a 3-0 win over Espanyol and a 1-1 draw against Atletico respectively. They will be joined on ten points by Sevilla if the Andalus club can take all three points at home to Racing on Thursday. Meanwhile, Levante travelled to fellow strugglers Almeria and came away with a victory (0-1) to jump ahead of both Almeria and Zaragoza, who could only manage a goalless draw at home to Hercules.

Espanyol deserved better

In the Bernabeu the 3-0 score line flattered the home side who produced another unconvincing display against an injured hit Espanyol, much to the displeasure of the home fans. In the post-match press conference, Espanyol’s Argentine manager Pochettino complained bitterly about what he saw as a string of refereeing errors, all of them in favour of Real Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo broke his recent goal drought from the penalty spot after yet another hotly disputed decision from the referee.

Two of this season’s early front runners, Valencia and Atletico, clashed in the Mestalla stadium. Atletico led for much of the game thanks to an early goal from Portuguese international Simao until Aduriz deservedly equalled for Valencia some seven minutes before the final whistle.

Bilbao prepare for Barça clash with three goals

In Bilbao it took Athletic Club most of the first half to find a way through the Mallorca defence but from that moment on there was only going to be one result as the home side romped to a comfortable 3-0 win. The Basque outfit are unlikely to have such an easy passage when they face Barça on Saturday.

Former Espanyol icon Raul Tamudo scored after just 16 minutes for his new club Real Sociedad in their visit to Pamplona-based Osasuna. However, Osasuna – who had just one point from three games before kick-off – reacted with two before the break and a third 15 minutes from time to claim all three points.