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After a four-day break, Real Madrid returned to second place in the Spanish championship table, crushing La Coruna's Deportivo 4-0 at home. Meanwhile, Valencia, also fighting for second place, failed to take advantage of Osasuna's defeat on Saturday and, due to a goal conceded in the final moments of the match, lost 1-0 to Sevilla.
In the match at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, the hosts took the lead in the ninth minute: after David Beckham's penalty kick from the right, Sergio Ramos missed the ball with his head, but it bounced off Deportivo defender Hector and into the goal.
With ten minutes left in the first half, Brazilian Ronaldo doubled the score after a great pass from his compatriot Roberto Carlos from the right.
Five minutes later, Ronaldo could have scored a second goal, but after outsmarting four defenders, he released the ball too far from himself in the penalty area and the goalkeeper caught it.
Real managed to score a third goal in the second half: with Beckham taking the penalty kick, an unmarked Sergio Ramos redirected the ball into Deportivo's goal. Less than ten minutes before the end of the match, Real sealed their dominance with a fourth goal by Julio Baptista, easily beating the Deportivo goalkeeper with a penalty kick from eighteen meters.
Meanwhile, the match for Valencia, also fighting for second place, took a completely different turn. Valencia scored the first goal when Mista made a mark during a counterattack, but the goal was disallowed for offside. The visitors' chances diminished significantly until fourteen minutes before the end of the match, when defender Roberto Ayala, who returned after an injury, was sent off the field for a foul on Javier Saviola, and a penalty kick was awarded to Valencia from eleven meters. Jordi Lopez, who took the penalty kick, hit the crossbar, but he redeemed himself in the second minute of added time with a header into the goal after a great pass from Daniel Alves.
With this victory, Sevilla reduced the gap from fourth-placed Valencia to two points, while this was Valencia's sixth consecutive match without a win.
Vigo's Celta won an important victory in the fight for a spot in next year's UEFA Cup tournament, defeating Mallorca 2-0 at home. Getafe in Madrid also secured a victory on Sunday, beating San Sebastian's Real Sociedad 2-1 at home.
Meanwhile, two matches ended goalless. Copa del Rey finalists Espanyol dominated the entire match against Alaves, but their solid defense prevented Espanyol from winning. The match between mid-table teams Racing Santander and Zaragoza in La Liga also ended without goals.
In the last round of matches, Atletico Madrid, aiming to play in the UEFA Cup next year, failed to beat Cadiz and had to settle for a draw.
Statistics
Madrid 4 - 0 La Coruna
9` [1 - 0] Hector (own goal)
37` [2 - 0] Ronaldo
70` [3 - 0] Sergio Ramos
83` [4 - 0] Julio Baptista
Vigo 2 - 0 Mallorca
7` [1 - 0] Pablo Contreras
21` [2 - 0] Fernando Baiano
Madrid 2 - 1 San Sebastian
19` [1 - 0] Mariano Pernia (pen.)
45` [1 - 1] Mark Gonzalez
55` [2 - 1] Daniel Gueiza
0 - 0
Barcelona 0 - 0 Alaves
1 - 0
90` [1 - 0] Jordi
Roberto Ayala sent off the field in the 76th minute ("Valencia")
1 - 1 Madrid
34` [0 - 1] Mateja Kezman
68` [1 - 1] Lucas Lobos (pen.)
