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This season's surprise package in Spain is Getafe, who continue to impress - on Sunday they even demolished Zaragoza 5-2, a team that is considered average in the league. Taking advantage of Real Madrid's dramatic defeat at home to Valencia, Getafe once again became the leaders of the Spanish league.
The central game of the tour took place in Madrid, where Real Madrid lost 2-1 to Valencia after a dramatic match, with the Royal Club finishing with nine players. The first minute indicated the intensity of the match, as Pablo Garcia received a yellow card for a foul on R. Baraja. In the tenth minute, a controversial penalty was awarded to Valencia for a foul on Sergio Ramos, but Zinedine Zidane failed to convert as he hit the goalpost.
In all the matches, especially for Real Madrid and their right-back Sergio Ramos, it was difficult to contain Spain's national team star left-back Vicente, who earned a penalty in the 20th minute which was successfully converted by R. Baraja to give the visitors the lead.
In the 36th minute, Roberto Carlos crossed the ball into the penalty area where it was collected by Real Madrid's captain Raul, who scored. However, Valencia quickly equalized by earning another controversial penalty, which was converted by the league's top scorer David Villa, scoring his seventh goal of the season.
As the game neared its end, D. Villa had the opportunity to seal the victory by rounding I. Casillas and shooting towards goal, only to be denied by Sergio Ramos in the final moment. Due to the aggressive play, Real Madrid finished with only nine players - Danish player T. Gravesen was shown a red card in the 81st minute, and shortly before the end of regulation time, English national team captain David Beckham also received a red card.
Cadiz secured their first home victory of the season by defeating Athletic Bilbao 1-0, climbing to tenth place in the standings. Meanwhile, it was the seventh consecutive winless match for Bilbao, leaving them in second-to-last place. The only goal of the match was scored by Enrique in the 13th minute.
Celta Vigo claimed their fifth victory of the season with a narrow 1-0 win over Espanyol. Despite Espanyol playing the entire second half with 10 men after Mauricio Pochettino was sent off, Celta Vigo only managed to break the deadlock in the 83rd minute through David Silva.
Getefe's footballers achieved a fantastic victory by defeating Zaragoza 5-2, with the visitors managing to score a consolation goal in the 85th minute through Pablo Redondo.
The biggest victory of the day was claimed by Malaga, who thrashed Betis 5-0. Malaga's attackers proved too much for the likes of Joaquin, Juanito, Ricardo Oliveira, and Denilson. Salva Ballesta scored twice in the first half, followed by goals from F. Sanzas and P. Counago, who completed his brace by adding a fifth goal, extending Betis' woes after a 4-0 loss to Chelsea earlier in the week.
Atletico Madrid bounced back from last week's 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid with a 1-0 victory over Racing Santander, with the only goal of the match scored by former Espanyol goalkeeper Maxi Rodriguez from long range.
Real Sociedad also recovered from a disappointing loss in the King's Cup tournament against third-tier team Zamora, with a 2-0 win over Deportivo. Darko Kovacevic scored the opening goal in the 50th minute, followed by Igor Jauregui's goal in the 68th minute.
After a poor start to the season, UEFA Champions League debutants Villarreal got back on track with a 3-0 win over Mallorca. Argentine Juan Roman Riquelme was the standout player, scoring the first goal in the 14th minute and providing an assist for Jose Mari, who scored the second goal. The third goal was scored by Uruguayan Diego Forlan, his third goal in 11 appearances this season.
