A difficult and important "Barca" victory © EuroFootball.com

During the 29th round of matches in the Spanish championship ("La Liga") played on Saturday, tournament leader "Barcelona" defeated La Coruna's "Deportivo" with a minimal score away, increasing their lead over second-placed "Real" to 14 points firmly on their way towards the championship title.

In the match held in La Coruna, "Barcelona" successfully crossed another barrier on their way to the championship title. The only goal of the match was scored by Ludovic Giuly in the tenth minute after a pass from Sylvinho. Although Rafael Marquez received his second yellow card at the beginning of the second half, "Barcelona" managed to maintain their lead against the Galician team, who attacked much more, and at the end of the match, substitute Andreas Iniesta even had a chance to double the score.

In other matches held in Seville, "Betis" defeated the tournament's underdogs "Albacete" 2-1 and rose to the third place on the tournament table at least until Sunday's matches. It is worth mentioning that "Betis" has only lost once at home this year.

In the last night's matches, the unusually high-placed "Espanyol" played a high-scoring draw against the recently erratic San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad". The match in Barcelona resembled a thriller, as "Real Sociedad" scored first. This was followed by two goals from Raul Tamudo, who is banging on the doors of the Spanish national team, and the final equalizer was scored in the 78th minute by Oscar De Paula.

Today, second-placed "Real" will host "Malaga" at home, while "Valencia" will also play at home against the recently in-form "Getafe".

Saturday's matches:

Seville 2 - 1 15' [1 - 0] Diego Rivas 58' [2 - 0] Marcos Assuncao 74' [2 - 1] Mark Gonzalez

Barcelona 2 - 2 San Sebastian 23' [0 - 1] Darko Kovacevic 37' [1 - 1] Raul Tamudo 55' [2 - 1] Raul Tamudo 78' [2 - 2] Oscar De Paula

La Coruna 0 - 1 10' [0 - 1] Ludovic Giuly

Rafael Marquez ("Barcelona") was sent off the field in the 52nd minute after receiving his second yellow card.