Round 27: "Espanyol" rose to third place © EuroFootball.com

In the 27th round of the Spanish championship, on Sunday, Barcelona's "Espanyol" celebrated victory, inspired by the draw in the city derby with "Barcelona" on Tuesday, taking advantage of their opponents' stumbles and rising to third place.

"Espanyol" initially fell behind at home against "Levante", but later scored two goals and won their 13th victory of the season, rising to third place, as "Villarreal" and "Betis" lost points in their respective matches against "Numancia" and "Getafe" and ended in a draw.

La Coruna's "Deportivo" retained ninth place and returned to the fight for a place in the European cup tournaments, winning with a minimal advantage against "Malaga" at home. The latter was overtaken in the standings by "Zaragoza", who won by one goal against Santander "Racing".

A crucial victory was achieved by "Mallorca", fighting for survival in the league, winning at home after a thrilling battle against "Real Sociedad", while Bilbao's "Athletic", as usual this season, initially fell behind in the match against "Albacete", but later scored three goals and won.

Table of matches

Results of Sunday's matches

"Espanyol" 2 - 1 "Levante" 24' [0 - 1] Sergio Garcia 29' [1 - 1] Jose Amavisca 65' [2 - 1] Maxi Rodriguez

"Mallorca" 3 - 2 "Real Sociedad" 7' [0 - 1] Mikel Aranburu 15' [1 - 1] Bernardo Romeo 16' [1 - 2] Luluaga Gari Uranga 20' [2 - 2] Luis Garcia Fernandez 54' [3 - 2] Bernardo Romeo

"Numancia" 1 - 1 "Villarreal" 28' [0 - 1] Juan Roman Riquelme 60' [1 - 1] Carlos Merino Gonzalez

"Betis" 2 - 2 "Getafe" 15' [0 - 1] Angel Vivar Dorado 28' [1 - 1] David Rivas 48' [1 - 2] Mariano Pernia 55' [2 - 2] Marcos Assuncao

"Zaragoza" 1 - 0 "Racing Santander" 58' [1 - 0] Manuel Capi

"Athletic Bilbao" 3 - 1 "Albacete" 12' [0 - 1] Ruben Castro Martin 41' [1 - 1] Santiago Ezquerro 72' [2 - 1] Jesus Lacruz 90' [3 - 1] Julen Guerrero

"Deportivo" 1 - 0 "Malaga" 45' [1 - 0] Diego Tristan