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On Wednesday, the 9th round matches of the Spanish championship took place, where victories were achieved by "Barcelona", La Coruna's "Deportivo", "Villarreal", "Mallorca", and Pamplona's "Osasuna", becoming the championship leaders at least until Thursday's matches.
The defending champions "Barcelona" footballers managed to secure victory at home only at the end of the match against "Malaga", who had previously defeated Seville's "Betis" club 5-0 in the last round. Ronaldinho scored the first goal in the 81st minute, converting his own earned penalty kick, and after seven minutes the Brazilian also provided an assist to Swedish striker Henrik Larsson, who doubled the lead.
A real thriller unfolded in front of 40 thousand fans in Seville, where "Betis" after an incredibly intense battle lost 3-2 to "Villarreal" players who compete in the UEFA Champions League. The visitors took the lead first after 10 minutes through a goal by Jose Mari, but the home team's Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira equalized the score in the 27th minute. Later, two "Villarreal" goals followed - one into the "Betis" net, scored by Juan Pablo Sorin, and another an own goal, when Javi Venta was unlucky. All hopes of "Betis" winning this match were taken away by Jose Mari's earned penalty kick, converted on the second attempt by Juan Roman Riquelme, as well as a red card received by the team's leader Joaquin after disputes with the referee. To make matters worse, a few minutes later another "Betis" player - defender Melli - saw a red card. However, "Villarreal" failed to take advantage of the two-player advantage and the match ended with a 3-2 victory for the visitors.
Dramatic matches also took place in Pamplona, where the local "Osasuna" snatched victory against "Athletic Bilbao" only at the end of added time. After the visitors took the lead first with a goal by Carlos Gurpegi from close range, the first half ended with a fantastic strike by "Osasuna" defender Raul from about 30 meters leveling the score. In the second half, the hosts took the lead - the second goal scorer Raul provided a great assist and Serbian striker Savo Milosevic headed "Osasuna" in front. Towards the end of the match, Josetxo scored an own goal to equalize the score, but the hosts managed to snatch a dramatic victory: after a substitution, Pierre Webo appeared on the field and scored from about 12 meters to let "Osasuna" celebrate three points.
In a rather unexpected victory at home, "Mallorca" secured a 1-0 win against Vigo's "Celta". The only goal of the match was scored at the beginning of the second half by Italian Cristiano Doni, and in the middle of the second half, "Celta" goalkeeper P. Contreras was sent off, but the hosts failed to capitalize on the numerical advantage.
In the last Wednesday matches, which can be called the central matches of the round, La Coruna's "Deportivo" defeated a greatly weakened Madrid "Real" 3-1, thus maintaining a 14-year unbeaten streak at home against the Royal club.
Achieving a red card, T. Gravesen, as well as injured Z. Zidane, M. Salgado, J. Baptista, and Ronaldo, the "Real" team managed to hold out only part of the first half - in the 35th minute, Canadian Julian de Guzman sent the ball into Iker Casillas' goal with a great shot from the penalty area line, and just before halftime Juanma doubled the score after a pass from P. Munitis.
In the 84th minute, the same Juanma scored a third goal with a header from Juan Carlos Valeron's lifted corner, but "Real" striker Raul softened the result with an impressive shot.
Until Thursday's matches, "Osasuna" from Pamplona became the leader of the championship.
Tournament table:
2 - 0
81` [1 - 0] Ronaldinho (pen.)
88` [2 - 0] Henrik Larsson
Pamplona 3 - 2
26` [0 - 1] Carlos Gurpegi
44` [1 - 1] Raul Garcia
61` [2 - 1] Savo Milosevic
81` [2 - 2] Josetxo (own goal)
90+2` [3 - 2] Pierre Webo
Seville 2 - 3
10` [1 - 0] Jose Mari
27` [1 - 1] Ricardo Oliveira
58` [1 - 2] Juan Pablo Sorin
62` [2 - 2] Javi Venta (own goal)
69` [2 - 3] Juan Roman Riquelme
66` Joaquin sent off ("Betis")
72` Melli sent off ("Betis")
1 - 0 Vigo
46` [1 - 0] Cristiano Doni
La Coruna 3 - 1 Madrid
35` [1 - 0] Julian de Guzman
45` [2 - 0] Juanma
84` [3 - 0] Juanma
86` [3 - 1] Raul
Top scorers:
1. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) - 9 goals;
2-3. Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 7 goals;
2-3. David Villa (Valencia) - 7 goals;
4-5. Fernando Baiano (Celta Vigo) - 5 goals;
4-5. Raul (Real Madrid) - 5 goals;
6-14. Ivan Riki (Getafe) - 4 goals;
6-14. Nene (Alaves) - 4 goals;
6-14. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 4 goals;
6-14. Daniel Gueiza (Getafe) - 4 goals;
6-14. Salva (Malaga) - 4 goals;
6-14. Jose Mari (Villarreal) - 4 goals;
6-14. Juan Riquelme (Villarreal) - 4 goals;
6-14. Ricardo Oliveira (Real Betis) - 4 goals;
6-14. Darko Kovacevic (Real Sociedad) - 4 goals.
Thursday Matches:
Alaves - Espanyol
Atletico - Cadiz
Real Sociedad - Getafe
Zaragoza - Racing Santander
Valencia - Sevilla
