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On Saturday, in the first matches of the 33rd round of "La Liga", the championship leader "Barcelona" secured a 2-0 victory against San Sebastian's "Real Sociedad", who are fighting to avoid relegation. Meanwhile, in a match away from home, the fourth-placed "Valencia" defeated La Coruna's "Deportivo" 2-1.
In the match in San Sebastian, "Barcelona" broke through in the fifth minute of the game, but Xavi's goal was disallowed for offside. Although Darko Kovačević responded with a dangerous attack later, "Barcelona" had at least two more chances to score in the first half.
The visitors eventually reached their goal at the start of the second half, as after a pass from Ronaldinho, Andres Iniesta found himself unmarked by the Real Sociedad defense and the goalkeeper, leading to Barcelona taking the lead.
In the second half, Brazilian Savio had the chance to equalize the score after about ten minutes, but "Barcelona" responded with two very dangerous attacks: first, Claudio Bravo miraculously saved his goal from Samuel Eto'o's shot, and shortly after, Lionel Messi scored.
With less than twenty minutes left to play, Real Sociedad created another dangerous attack - Kovačević fell just short of scoring - but Barcelona responded with an even more dangerous attack, with Ronaldinho forcing Bravo to make an acrobatic save.
As the match approached the end, Savio had another chance to score, but the Brazilian shot over the goal. Barcelona responded once again with a dangerous counter-attack, resulting in a goal - Ronaldinho passed to Eto'o who sealed the victory for the visitors. However, Barcelona's joy was somewhat dampened by Iniesta's injury, which forced him to leave the game.
Meanwhile, in the match at the "El Riazor" stadium, the visitors took the lead at the end of the first half: after a player from Valencia penetrated the penalty area, the defender stopped him, but a Portuguese player, Hugo Viana, quickly took the ball and put Valencia in front.
Although Valencia continued to press their opponents, the score became even in the middle of the second half - just after coming on as a substitute, Sebastian Taborda directed the ball with his head into the goal after a penalty shot from Sergio.
However, the hosts did not enjoy the equalizer for long, as Valencia restored their one-goal lead five minutes later when David Silva, after receiving a pass from David Villa, scored a goal in a counter-attack.
After these victories by the teams, the pressure has increased significantly on "Sevilla" and Madrid's "Real" teams - they currently occupy the second and third positions and will face each other on Sunday.
