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Today in the 28th round of the Spanish championship ("La Liga"), impressive victories at home were achieved by Levante from Valencia, Racing from Santander, and Villarreal, while Real Madrid lost to mid-table teams away.
Valencia's team that is at the bottom half of the table, took the lead 3-0 after two goals from Juanma and Bulgarian Manchev in the first half, making Garcia Sergio's goal in the second half almost insignificant. Unfortunately, this impressive victory for Valencia allowed them to climb one step to the 13th position in the table.
Racing from Santander showed clear ambitions in the match by scoring in the first five minutes with goals from Anderson Silva and David Aganzo. Yossi Benayoun, an Israeli forward getting attention from powerful European clubs, solidified Racing's lead in the second half against the team led by Hectoro Cuper. There are rumors in the Spanish press that the management of Mallorca is not happy with the recently appointed coach, so this loss will be another reason for them to dismiss the Argentine.
The match in Villarreal received a lot of attention, where the home team, realistically aiming for a spot in the Champions League, defeated Espanyol from Barcelona, who were previously in third place. Dieo Forlan, who has been playing impressively this season and recently regained a spot in the national team lineup, scored the first goal for the hosts. Although the visitors managed to equalize after five minutes, Villarreal showed their dominance in the second half with goals from Juan Pablo Sorin, Luciano Figueroa, and Juan Roman Riquelme, who is rumored to be transferring to Deportivo. This victory allowed Villarreal to claim sole possession of the third spot in the league table.
Real Sociedad from San Sebastian claimed a hard-fought victory at home through Jose Barkero's goal in the 86th minute against the tournament underdogs Numancia.
Deportivo from La Coruna earned an important away victory with a minimal result against Albacete. Fabrizio Coloccini, a recent purchase for Deportivo, scored the only goal of the match in the first half.
Meanwhile, Sevilla suffered another defeat at home against Zaragoza, with the only goal of the match scored by defender Gabriel Milito.
Getafe experienced a surprising defeat at home against Real Madrid, who are still contenders for the league title. Despite more attacks, Getafe managed to score through Raul Albiol's goal from the penalty area. Later, the lead was doubled by Riki, and Real Madrid scored their only goal in the final moments of the match with a shot from Solaris from outside the penalty area. This defeat means that Real Madrid is now 11 points behind Barcelona in the first place with ten games left in the season. On the other hand, this victory nearly guarantees Getafe survival in the league, as they are now ten points clear of the 18th place, with one game in hand - the postponed match between Getafe and Bilbao will be played this Wednesday.
Atletico Madrid narrowly defeated Valencia with more dangerous attacks, as Valencia failed to capitalize on their chances without their key players Vicente and Baraja. The only goal of the match in the first half was scored by young Fernando Torres with a header from close range after a pass from Antonio Lopez. Madrid's team managed to secure a favorable result and keep a clean sheet thanks to solid defense and flawless goalkeeper Leo Franco.
Sunday's results:
Deportivo La Coruna 0 - 1 Albacete
Valencia 3 - 0 Osasuna
Real Sociedad 2 - 1 Mallorca
Villarreal 4 - 1 Barcelona
Racing Santander 3 - 0 Mallorca
Real Madrid 2 - 1 Sevilla
Atletico Madrid 1 - 0 Valencia
