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On Saturday in Spain, three matches of the ninth round of "La Liga" were played. The most attention was focused on the match in La Coruna, where defending champions "Barcelona" played a 1-1 draw with the local "Deportivo". The match unexpectedly ended in a draw in Mallorca, where the home team played a goalless draw with the ambitious Madrid "Atletico", and the outsiders "Real Sociedad" suffered another defeat, this time losing 0-2 to Valencia's "Levante".
"Deportivo" had won all four home matches before the Saturday clash, so they started the match boldly and pressed the European champions from the beginning. However, it was "Barcelona" who took the lead when the referee awarded a penalty kick for a foul by defender Juanma on Javier Saviola, which was successfully converted by Brazilian Ronaldinho.
However, the hard work of "Deportivo" paid off in the 73rd minute, when Brazilian Edmilson brought down Joan Verdu in the penalty area and the referee awarded a penalty kick. Although Victor Valdes saved Fabiano Estoyanoff's attempt, Juan Rodriguez was the first to reach the ball and sent it into the goal.
Two weeks after appointing a new coach - Miguel Angel Lotina - the leaders of "Real Sociedad" have not yet seen any benefits, as the league's bottom club suffered another defeat. At the end of the first half, "Levante" took the lead through Cameroonian Albert Meyong, who was the first to reach the ball after Felix Ettien's header.
Four minutes before the end of the match, former Italian national team player Damiano Tomassi outsmarted two defenders with an impressive dribble and made a perfect pass to Frenchman Laurent Courtois, who doubled the lead.
The "dry" streak of matches continues for Madrid's "Atletico". Failing to score a goal in four league matches and one Spanish cup match in a row, Madrid's players created only a few chances in the Saturday clash, while the best chance fell to "Mallorca" when the ball bounced off the post after Boško Jankovič's shot.
Statistics
Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 1 Barcelona
40` [0 - 1] Ronaldinho (11 m.)
73` [1 - 1] Juan Rodriguez
Levante 2 - 0 Real Sociedad
40` [1 - 0] Albert Meyong
86` [2 - 0] Laurent Courtois
Mallorca 0 - 0 Atletico Madrid
Sunday's Matches
Espanyol - Valencia
Real - Celta
Villarreal - Betis
Sevilla - Osasuna
Recreativo - Gimnastic
Zaragoza - Getafe
Athletic Bilbao - Racing Santander
