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On Sunday in Spain, all attention was focused on "El Clasico" - the duel between Madrid's "Real" and "Barcelona". In the first "El Clasico" of this season, "Barca" defeated their opponents 3-0 at home, giving them a nine-point lead in the Spanish championship before Sunday's match against the Royal club. However, "Real" retaliated - in a true football spectacle, they defeated the Catalans 4-2, bringing back intrigue to "La Liga."
"El Clasico"
The hosts took the lead in the sixth minute, when Frenchman Zinedine Zidane, after Ronaldo's pass, headed the ball into the net. At the beginning of the match, the midfield seemed empty - both teams constantly attacked each other's goals, rarely staying in the center of the field for too long. The visitors' situation worsened in the 19th minute when Ronaldo, after David Beckham's lifted free kick, headed the ball towards Victor Valdes' goal. This was only Ronaldo's second goal in twelve recent Spanish championship matches.
After scoring the goals, "Real" handed the initiative to their opponents and were punished for it, as soon "Barcelona" softened their position - receiving the ball in the penalty area, Spain's top scorer Samuel Eto'o broke through two defenders and defeated Iker Casillas.
Recovered, "Barca" continued to press their opponents, but failed to equalize despite several good chances, and already during added time of the first half, after Roberto Carlos' left-wing run and accurate pass, the third goal was scored by the team captain, Raul.
In the second half, "Barca" continued to control the ball, while the hosts defended and tried to score on counterattacks. In the 64th minute, they succeeded - after a precise pass from D. Beckham, Michael Owen, after breaking through the defenders, was left one-on-one and forced Victor Valdes to pull the ball out of his goal.
Shortly after, in the other half of the field, a penalty was requested after a foul on Maxi Lopez, who replaced Ludovic Giuly a few minutes earlier, but the referee did not decide to award a penalty spot. When many thought the match was over, Ronaldinho, recovering from a stomach infection, did not want to agree with that, demonstrating his skills once again and sending the ball into the top right corner of the goal with a great penalty from 22 meters - leaving Casillas just watching the ball.
Although "Barcelona" attacked much more in this match and had twice as many opportunities to score, the productive game of the three "Real" forwards, Zinedine Zidane and goalkeeper Iker Casillas, allowed the Royal club to celebrate not only a victory in front of 77,000 spectators but also a valuable moral victory. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that if the season was decided based on head-to-head results, "Barcelona" would be in a more favorable position.
Another excellent victory was achieved by "Sevilla", which aims at a place in the UEFA Champions League, winning 3-1 against Barcelona's "Espanyol", who also played fantastically this year. Meanwhile, "Betis" and "Valencia" had to settle for draws against their opponents with the same result of 2-2.
Key players of the championship
1. 21 goals - Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) 2. 18 goals - Diego Forlan (Villarreal) 3. 17 goals - Ricardo Oliveira (Real Betis) 4. 16 goals - Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid) 5. 15 goals - Julio Baptista (Sevilla) 6-8. 13 goals - Juan Riquelme (Villarreal) 6-8. 13 goals - Ronaldo (Real Madrid) 6-8. 13 goals - Nihat Kahveci (Real Sociedad) 9. 12 goals - Maxi Rodriguez (Espanyol) 10-11. 11 goals - Michael Owen (Real Madrid) 10-11. 11 goals - Marco Di Vaio (Valencia)
Sunday's results
Vallodolid 2 - 2 Malaga 20' [1 - 0] Marco Di Vaio 33' [1 - 1] Fernando 45' [2 - 1] Marco Di Vaio 90' [2 - 2] Duda
Celta Vigo 1 - 0 Racing Santander 65' [1 - 0] Vivar
Sevilla 2 - 2 Valencia 11' [1 - 0] Edu 24' [1 - 1] Rivera 31' [2 - 1] Ricardo Oliveira 67' [2 - 2] Juanma
Osasuna 1 - 0 Villarreal 48' [1 - 0] Webo
Barcelona 1 - 3 Getafe 9' [0 - 1] Jordi 17' [0 - 2] Julio Baptista 73' [1 - 2] Jonathan 90' [1 - 3] Daniel Alves
Real Sociedad 0 - 2 Valencia 55' [0 - 1] Savio 85' [0 - 2] David Villa
Real Madrid 4 - 2 Barcelona 6' [1 - 0] Zinedine Zidane 19' [2 - 0] Ronaldo 27' [2 - 1] Samuel Eto'o 45' [3 - 1] Raul 64' [4 - 1] Michael Owen 72' [4 - 2] Ronaldinho
Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 1 Villarreal 63' [1 - 0] Albert Luque 85' [1 - 1] Cesar Arzo
