© EuroFootball.com
Today, three out of ten La Liga matches were played. Here are brief summaries of today's matches.
1 - 1
44' [0 - 1]
55' [1 - 1]
Although the players of "Deportivo," led by Javier Irureta, had already come to terms with the idea that they would not become Spanish champions, after these matches it seems that they may also bid farewell to the third place. Despite defeating "AC Milan" 4-0 in the Champions League quarterfinals, today they were brought back to reality by the bottom of the table "Valladolid" players, who managed to stop "Deportivo"'s eleven. "Valladolid" took the lead just before the end of the first half. During the break, "SuperDepor" coach Javier Irureta made a double substitution - Pandiani and Djalminha came off the bench. The latter's performance on the field was crucial for the La Coruna players - he scored a penalty earned by himself in the 55th minute. This "Deportivo" failure was probably a result of the players' minds being on Wednesday's Champions League semifinal against Edgaras Jankauskas' "Porto" team.
4 - 0
33' [1 - 0]
57' [2 - 0]
76' [3 - 0]
90' [4 - 0]
The hope of playing in the UEFA Cup next year was greatly strengthened by the impressive victory of "Bilbao Athletic." By beating the Spanish King's Cup winners "Zaragoza" 4-0, they rose to fifth place. However, if "Osasuna" wins tomorrow, the Basque club will still take sixth place. It is worth mentioning that Zaragoza finished the match with nine players - Gabriel Milito was sent off in the 58th minute, and five minutes later Alvaro received a red card. Etxeberria scored the first goal with a beautiful header, Del Horno doubled the result from a corner, and two more goals were scored at the end of the match by Yeste, the most productive "Athletic" player of 24.
1 - 2
5' [0 - 1]
48' [1 - 1]
79' [1 - 2]
In the tenth minute of the second half, the "Real" players managed to win the Madrid derby. "Real" attacked from the start and took the lead in the 5th minute. At the beginning of the second half, the referee awarded a penalty to "Real" and sent off the royal club defender Francisco Pavon. Paunovic scored from the spot to level the score. At the end of the match, defender Helguera secured the victory for "Real," sending the ball into the net in front of 55,000 spectators.
