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On Saturday, two matches of the 20th round were played in the Spanish championship. Both matches ended with unexpected results: Madrid's "Atletico" could not beat Santander's "Racing" at home, while Madrid's "Real" lost to "Villarreal" for the first time in the history of their mutual matches as visitors.
"Real" players, playing in this match without the absent Ronaldo, David Beckham, injured Raul, and the coach's disgruntled Antonio Cassano, rarely threatened the hosts' goal.
Meanwhile, the "Villarreal" team, despite the absence of their main attacking organizer Juan Roman Riquelme, controlled the ball for most of the match and tried to attack quickly.
After playing for about half an hour, the visitors from Madrid were saved only by the excellent goalkeeping of Iker Casillas - "Real" goalkeeper blocked the ball from Diego Forlan, as well as the follow-up shot, and tried to stop Matias Fernandez, whose third attempt was very inaccurate and the ball flew into the stands.
However, in the middle of the second half, the hosts managed to break through the "Real" defense and goalkeeper when after M. Fernandez's pass, I. Casillas was precisely beaten by the nineteen-year-old goalkeeper Marcos, whose goal determined the winner of the match.
The defeat on Saturday was the third in the last five matches for "Real", while it was only the second victory in the last seven matches for "Villarreal" and also the first victory against the Royal club in their mutual history.
Another Madrid club, "Atletico", did not take the opportunity to approach the leaders, as they had to share points with Santander's "Racing" at home. The hosts even fell behind when in the 73rd minute, after playing a "wall" with Pedro Munitis, the tall Serbian Nikola Zigic scored, but a few minutes later, defender Pablo Ibanez, who played his 100th match for "Atletico", equalized the score with a header.
After these draws, "Atletico" collected 36 points, tying with the team in 5th place, "Valencia", who will face Seville's "Betis" on Sunday. "Sevilla", with 38 points along with "Real", will play against Valensia's "Levante", while the championship leader, "Barcelona", with their 39 points, will try to increase their lead in the match against Vigo's "Celta".
Statistics
Madrid's "Atletico" 1 - 1 Santander's "Racing"
73` [0 - 1] Nikola Zigic
75` [1 - 1] Pablo Ibanez
"Villarreal" 1 - 0 Madrid's "Real"
67` [1 - 0] Marcos
Standings
