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On Saturday, in the 36th round of the Spanish championship, the victories of the league leaders were recorded - the leading team in the championship, Madrid's "Real", defeated La Coruna's "Deportivo" 3-1 at home, while "Barcelona" won with a minimal advantage against "Getafe". Meanwhile, in fourth place, "Valencia" lost 2-3 at home to "Villarreal" and lost hopes of fighting for the title.
In the match at the "Santiago Bernabeu" stadium, "Real" took the lead in the middle of the first half when Sergio Ramos scored - initially David Beckham made a great pass from the right flank, the ball was then sent by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Raul's shot was blocked, but the defender sent the ball into the net.
In the second half, after playing for ten minutes, Iker Casillas made excellent saves from two opponent shots, but ultimately Sergio, who had the ball, made a pass to Joan Capdevila, who equalized the score with a free kick near the goal.
But the score was level for only a few minutes, as soon after D. Beckham's pass from the flank, Raul scored a free header, restoring a one-goal advantage.
With fifteen minutes left in the match, Robinho was brought down in the penalty area, but R. van Nistelrooy, the first to the ball, secured Real's victory.
Barcelona's victory came at the beginning of the match after Samuel Eto'o's pass was converted into a goal by Brazilian Ronaldinho. However, the Catalan superclub had to play more than half of the match with ten players, as at the end of the first half the only goal scorer, David Belenguer, was sent off for a foul.
Although both teams had opportunities to change the score at the end of the match, "Barcelona" maintained its lead and continues to press the leading "Real" in first place.
Meanwhile, the hero of the match in Valencia was the Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson. "Valencia" took the lead after David Villa converted his own earned penalty, but after Guillermo Franco's pass into the penalty area, Diego Forlan equalized the score.
The second half was started actively by "Villarreal", but "Valencia" quickly took the initiative, but in the end the guests celebrated victory - just after coming on as a substitute J.D.Tomasson cunningly outplayed the "Valencia" defense and led the guests ahead, and after almost ten minutes the Dane made a productive pass to D.Forlan, who scored his second goal in this match.
Although D.Villa softened the result with a penalty kick in added time, "Valencia" failed to win at least a point. Due to this defeat, "Valencia" can only blame themselves, as they did not capitalize on numerous opportunities - at one point Miguel Angulo even missed an open goal.
Statistics:
Real Madrid 3 - 1 Deportivo La Coruna
29' [1 - 0] Sergio Ramos
55' [1 - 1] Joan Capdevila
57' [2 - 1] Raul
75' [3 - 1] Ruud van Nistelrooy
Valencia 2 - 3 Villarreal
21' [1 - 0] David Villa (pen.)
35' [1 - 1] Diego Forlan
79' [1 - 2] Jon Dahl Tomasson
87' [1 - 3] Diego Forlan
90+1' [2 - 3] David Villa
Barcelona 1 - 0 Getafe
2' [1 - 0] Ronaldinho
40' Ronaldinho (Barcelona) sent off
