On Saturday, in the 23rd round of the Spanish Championship, victories were celebrated in the middle of the week by the humiliated Madrid "Real" and "Sevilla" footballers, while the match between Pamplona's "Osasuna" and "Zaragoza" ended in a draw.
In the match at Bilbao's "San Mames" stadium, "Real" broke through in the fifth minute of the game, when after a fantastic play by Frenchman Zinedine Zidane in the middle of the field and a precise pass, Brazilian Robinho found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper and sent the ball into the net.
However, this goal only woke up Javier Clemente's proteges, who fiercely resisted the players of the Royal Club. The players of "Real" were pressed in these matches and the psychological tension was high - on Wednesday, the Royal Club suffered the most humiliating defeat in seven years, and "Athletic Bilbao" is traditionally a very difficult opponent for the Madrid club.
However, "Real", with Englishman Jonathan Woodgate shining in defense, managed to defend for the rest of the match and secure the victory in the third minute of added time: after a great play by Robinho and his compatriot Julio Baptista, substitute Raul Bravo sent the ball into the empty net.
"Real" victory was somewhat dampened by injuries to two players: this time Pablo Garcia had to leave the field, and the Spaniard Guti, who has recently been in excellent form, was carried off on a stretcher. It is not yet known how serious the injuries are, but currently in the "Real" camp, eight players are injured.
Unexpectedly, after crushing "Zaragoza" 6-1 on Wednesday, on Saturday the "Zaragoza" footballers had to settle for a draw with Pamplona's "Osasuna", who are fourth in the standings. Pamplona's footballers took the lead in the fourth minute of the match, when former "Zaragoza" forward Savo Milosevic headed in Ludovico Delporte's cross.
However, the "Zaragoza" players were not the same as those who celebrated victory in the King's Cup, and rarely threatened the hosts' goal, so they were happy with the drawn result. The equalizing goal at the end of the first half was scored with a great penalty kick by Argentine Leonardo Ponzio.
The "Sevilla" footballers achieved an impressive victory on Saturday, defeating "Cadiz" 0-4 away. Like in the other Saturday matches, the "Sevilla" players took the lead right at the beginning of the match, when Argentine Javier Saviola scored after a header from Frederic Kanoute outside the penalty area.
Midway through the second half, goalkeeper Antonio Puerta doubled the lead with a header after a pass from Daniel Alves, and in added time, substitute Kepa made it a crushing result with a first touch in the box, and just before the end of the match, F. Kanoute scored the fourth goal.
Saturday's statistics
Madrid 0 - 2 5' [0 - 1] Robinho 90' [0 - 2] Raul Bravo
Pamplona 1 - 1 3' [1 - 0] Savo Milosevic 42' [1 - 1] Leonardo Ponzio
Cadiz 0 - 4 6' [0 - 1] Javier Saviola 71' [0 - 2] Antonio Puerta 90' [0 - 3] Kepa 90' [0 - 4] Frederic Kanoute