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On Sunday, victories were achieved in the 32nd round of the Spanish championship by Bilbao "Athletic" and "Zaragoza", as well as Madrid's "Real", while "Villarreal", playing a goalless draw with table neighbor Sevilla's "Betis" club, moved up to third place on the tournament table. "Barcelona", defeating "Getafe" 2-0, maintained a six-point lead over "Real" in second place.
Madrid's "Real" achieved an important victory as guests, defeating the local "Levante" 0-2 in Valencia. Both goals were scored by the often-criticized Brazilian Ronaldo. It is worth mentioning that, just like in the match against "Barcelona" last week, "Real" star Portuguese Luis Figo started the match sitting on the bench, and his place in the starting lineup was taken by Borja. Additionally, just like last week, by the decision of "Real" coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo, the Royal club played with three forwards.
Last Sunday, the match was played in Barcelona, where the championship leader "Barcelona" met "Getafe". Without their suspended captain Carles Puyol and injured top scorer Samuel Eto'o, the Catalan team absolutely controlled the game and easily defeated their opponents. Portuguese Deco, who has recovered from injury, played in the starting lineup again, and in the 89th minute Brazilian Thiago Motta received cheers as he returned to the field after a seven-month break. This easy victory allowed the Catalan superclub to maintain a six-point lead over "Real" in second place.
In the first five matches played on Sunday, the teams struggled to score: all the matches were 0-0 at halftime. However, in the second half, "Malaga" scored the first goal, defeating "Albacete" 1-2 away.
At home, "Zaragoza" achieved an even more impressive victory, crushing the "Numancia" team 4-1. Bilbao "Athletic" only managed to score two goals in extra time against Santander "Racing" and won 0-2 away.
"Villarreal" had to settle for a draw with Sevilla's "Betis", having been knocked out of the UEFA Europa League last week. Despite many attacks, Valencia failed to score against "Mallorca". Valencia's leaders Ruben Baraja, Pablo Aimar, and Vicente were still absent, but Vicente, after a few months break, was already sitting on the bench.
Sunday results
1 - 2
84' [1 - 2] Marcio Amoroso
67' [1 - 1] Antonio Pacheco
53' [0 - 1] Sergio Duda
0 - 0
0 - 2
90' [0 - 1] Pablo Orbaiz (pen.)
90' [0 - 2] Tiko
0 - 0 Sevilla
4 - 1 Numancia
82' [4 - 1] Savio
79' [3 - 1] Leonardo Ponzio
70' [2 - 1] David Villa
67' [1 - 1] Ruben Cani (own goal)
64' [1 - 0] David Villa
Valencia 0 - 2 Madrid
37' [0 - 1] Ronaldo
83' [0 - 2] Ronaldo
2 - 0
30' [1 - 0] Ronaldinho
56' [2 - 0] Ludovic Giuly
