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In the matches held in Pamplona, from the very first minutes, "Osasuna" started threatening the goal of Santiago Canizares, but "Valencia" defended reliably and as the first half was coming to an end, they equalized the game and had several chances to score. The most active player in the first part of the match was "Valencia's" attacking leader David Villa.
The second half started again with "Osasuna" attacking and it quickly paid off - in the 48th minute, after a mistake on the left side of the defense by the Portuguese legionnaire of "Valencia" Miguel Savo, Miloševičius received a perfect pass into the penalty area and with a great header sent the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.
After conceding a goal, "Valencia" tried to equalize, and during the next attack, Mario Regueiro had a great chance, but his shot hit the "Osasuna" goalkeeper. Here the unwritten football rule of "if you don’t score, you’ll be scored against" was confirmed. In the 49th minute, after blocking Regueiro's shot, "Osasuna" launched a counterattack and David Lopez, left unmarked in the penalty area, sent the second goal into S.Canizares' net from the right side.
With the score at 2-0, "Valencia" put all their effort into attacking, but they couldn’t break through the defense of "Osasuna" - M.Regueiro hit the crossbar in the middle of the second half, and Davido Villo's shot was blocked by the "Osasuna" defender from the goal line.
However, it was David Villa, who had been active throughout the match, who managed to score - in the last minute of the match, the Spanish national team forward made a great penalty kick to reduce the gap and with 25 goals became the most productive player in the Spanish championship. It is worth mentioning that these matches were the last for "Valencia's" defender Amedeo Carboni, who decided to end his career at the age of 41.
The match in Seville unfolded in a completely different way, where the local team "Sevilla", who had won the UEFA Cup last week, needed a victory against "Real" in order to secure a place in the next season's UEFA Champions League and also had to wait for either a failure or a draw by "Osasuna".
From the beginning of the match, "Sevilla" attacked "Real's" goal, but they were unable to score - Luis Fabiano's shot hit the opponent's goalpost, and later a goal that was scored was not counted. Despite "Sevilla" dominating, the first goals in this match were scored by "Real's" players, when in the 16th minute David Beckham scored the first goal with a penalty kick. Just ten minutes later, the same Beckham received a pass from Roberto Carlos and scored his second goal.
However, just when it seemed that "Sevilla's" situation was getting complicated, the winners of the UEFA Cup showed character and managed to not only equalize but also turn the result around in six minutes. In the 28th minute, the young Jesus Navas received a pass outside the penalty area and precisely scored to the corner of the goal. Just two minutes later, the Argentine Javier Saviola sent the second goal into the net guarded by Iker Casillas and equalized the result.
Until the end of the first half, with a little over 10 minutes remaining, the same Saviola found himself in the right place at the right time and led his team ahead, and in the last attack of the first half, Luis Fabiano finally managed to score, so the hosts went into the break leading 4-2.
At the start of the second half, the "Real" players found out that "Osasuna" had taken the lead in the match against "Valencia" and this seemed to boost the confidence of the Madrid team. Playing his last match in "La Liga", Zinedine Zidane grabbed a lost ball after a corner and sent it towards Andres Palop's goal, but that was all Madrid club could create in the remaining time. "Sevilla" celebrated a 4-3 victory, but nevertheless, they remained in fifth place and will have a chance to defend the UEFA Cup winners' title next season.
Results of Tuesday's matches:
2 - 1
48` [1 - 0] Savo Miloševič
49` [2 - 0] David Lopez
90` [2 - 1] David Villa
4 - 3
16` [0 - 1] David Beckham
26` [0 - 2] David Beckham
28` [1 - 2] Jesus Navas
30` [2 - 2] Javier Saviola
34` [3 - 2] Javier Saviola
45` [4 - 2] Luis Fabiano
72` [4 - 3] Zinedine Zidane
League table
