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On Sunday, in the 22nd round of the Spanish championship, an unexpected victory was achieved by Madrid's "Atletico" in the match at Barcelona's "Nou Camp" stadium, defeating the weakened championship leader "Barcelona" 3-1 and ending the Catalan club's streak of 14 consecutive wins in the Spanish championship.
Without their disqualified team leader Ronaldinho and the most productive player of the Spanish championship, Samuel Eto'o, who had not yet returned from the African Nations Cup, the hosts struggled against the recently revitalized Madrid "Atletico" players, who had recently changed their coach.
The visitors broke through in the middle of the first half, when the Spanish national team forward Fernando Torres scored with a left-foot strike in the penalty area to beat Barcelona's goalkeeper Victor Valdes. At the end of the first half, the host's strategist Frank Rijkaard made a substitution: instead of the young Lionel Messi, the experienced Santiago Ezquerro appeared on the field, and a couple of minutes into the second half, the attacking midfielder Ludovic Giuly entered the field instead of the defensive midfielder Mark van Bommel.
It was precisely by taking advantage of the weakened Barcelona defense that the visitors doubled their lead at the start of the second half, when Argentine national team midfielder Maxi Rodriguez scored from close range.
Although Barcelona narrowed the score in the middle of the second half, with Swedish player Henrik Larsson scoring after a pass from Andres Iniesta from the center of the penalty area, in the 75th minute F. Torres put an end to the match - receiving a header pass from M. Rodriguez, he secured Atletico's 3-1 victory with a precise shot. It is worth mentioning that one of the best players in the match was Atletico's goalkeeper Leo Franco, who made several great saves.
Four goals in the first 12 minutes of the first half were a painful blow for Sevilla's Betis players. Although the visitors' forward Dani managed to score three goals, the real thriller in Zaragoza ended with Zaragoza's 4-3 victory.
The "shock therapy" began in the match at the El Sardinero stadium, where Cadiz took the lead in the match against Villarreal during the first attack. The confused hosts created only one real chance to score in the first half, but Gonzalo missed his shot. However, Villarreal started the second half more actively and equalized the score halfway through the half thanks to Javier Calleja, who played a one-two with Diego Forlan and sent the ball into the net. Although just before the end of the match the referee's whistle blew for a potentially winning goal scored by Alexander Medina, the referee decided not to count it, seeing a handball.
"Real Sociedad" won a dramatic victory at home on Sunday, defeating Mallorca's players 2-1, with both goals scored by the club's newcomers: the first by Dane Morten Skoubo, and the winner by Chilean Mark Gonzalez. Vigo's "Celta" also won a dramatic victory away, winning against Racing Santander in extra time. Jesus Perera scored the winning goal after a pass from Nestor Fabiano Canobbio.
On Sunday, the impressive Pamplona's "Osasuna" team managed to win a crucial victory away in the first round, defeating Sevilla's team with a minimal score. The only goal of the match was scored in the 61st minute by the Serbian Savo Milosevic.
Sunday's Statistics
1-3 Madrid 33` [0-1] Fernando Torres 47` [0-2] Maxi Rodriguez 65` [1-2] Henrik Larsson 76` [1-3] Fernando Torres
Madrid 2-2 Vitoria 4` [1-0] Mariano Pernia (11 m.) 12` [1-1] John Aloisi 75` [1-2] Rodolfo Bodipo 90` [2-2] Daniel Gueiza
San Sebastiano 2-1 13` [1-0] Morten Skoubo 34` [1-1] Piscu 84` [2-1] Mark Gonzalez
0-1 Vigo 90` [0-1] Jesus Perera
1-1 1` [0-1] Alexander Medina 62` [1-1] Javier Calleja
Juan Manuel Pena ("Villarreal") was sent off the field in the 81st minute
4-3 Seville 11` [1-0] Diego Milito 13` [2-0] Oscar 16` [3-0] Sergio Garcia 23` [4-0] Diego Milito 24` [4-1] Dani 50` [4-2] Dani 61` [4-3] Dani
Chus Herrero ("Zaragoza") was sent off the field in the 81st minute Fernando Varela ("Betis") was sent off the field in the 90th minute
0-1 Pamplona 61` [0-1] Savo Milosevic
David ("Sevilla") was sent off the field in the 94th minute
Tournament Table
