© EuroFootball.com
During today's matches in the 24th round of the Spanish Championship ("La Liga"), the tournament leaders had different outcomes: the leading "Barca" defeated "Mallorca" at the bottom of the standings by 2-0, increasing their lead against the second-placed Madrid "Real", who unexpectedly lost 0-2 at home to Bilbao "Athletic". Meanwhile, in San Sebastian, another surprise was recorded: the local "Real Sociedad" defeated the third-placed "Sevilla" by a minimal result, who have been an Ispanish discovery in this season.
In the match held in Barcelona, the whole game was dominated and thanks to the goals of the two Portuguese legionnaires Deco, they easily defeated the "Mallorca" team. It's true that "Mallorca" earned a penalty at the beginning of the match, but it was excellently saved by the Catalan goalkeeper Victor Valdes, allowing his team to increase the lead over the second-placed "Real" team by seven points.
In the match held in Madrid, the excellent form-showing Bilbao disgracefully defeated them with a score of 0-2. It is worth mentioning that the result could have been even greater, but the referee did not notice when after Andoni Iraola's strike from about 35 meters, Casillas' ball hit the crossbar and crossed the goal line. Still, "Bilbao" managed to prove their superiority in the second half and celebrate victory with goals from Asier Del Horno and the impressive Iraola, with a score of 2-0. It should be noted that Ronaldo, who received inflammation in the base of his toe joint, watched the match from the substitute bench until the 67th minute, and was later replaced by Raul Bravo. Starting instead of Ronaldo was the Englishman Michael Owen, who only struck once until he was replaced by Raul in the 67th minute.
Another unexpected result was recorded in San Sebastian: the players of "Real Sociedad", who were in the lower half of the tournament standings, defeated the third-placed "Sevilla" team fighting for a place in the Champions League with a minimal result. The players who looked better throughout the match managed to score a goal only at the end of the game. This was done by striker Darko Kovacevic after Fabiano Rossato's pass from the penalty area center. This result allowed the hosts to at least rise from 13th to 11th place in the tournament standings.
Madrid "Real" 0 - 2 Bilbao "Athletic"
57' [0 - 1] Asier Del Horno
73' [0 - 2] Andoni Iraola
"Barcelona" 2 - 0 "Mallorca"
16' [1 - 0] Deco
57' [2 - 0] Deco
San Sebastian "Real Sociedad" 1 - 0 "Sevilla"
86' [1 - 0] Darko Kovacevic
