|
Barca eye title after Valencia slip-up
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-03-06 08:57
MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona will go into Tuesday's Champions League clash
against Chelsea with one hand on the Spanish title after finishing the weekend
10 points clear at the top of the table.
After beating Deportivo La Coruna 3-2 on Saturday, Frank Rijkaard's men then
saw Valencia held to a 0-0 draw by bottom club Malaga on Sunday which kept their
title rivals in third place.
Real Madrid, 2-1 winners over Atletico Madrid on Saturday, remain second on
goal difference but 10 points behind their bitter rivals.
Valencia extended their unbeaten run to 15 games but their failure to break
down a Malaga defence, which last week conceded five goals at Atletico Madrid,
will have only served to boost Barca's joy.
Osasuna's stuttering campaign suffered another setback when they slumped to a
2-0 defeat at Celta Vigo.
Fernando Baiano and Fabian Canobbio scored the goals that put Celta into
fifth place in the race for a Champions League spot on 45 points, one behind
Osasuna.
Sevilla beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 to keep up their European hopes with Fredi
Kanoute scoring the winner in the second half.
Enzo Maresca gave Sevilla the lead from the penalty spot in the 17th minute
but Athletic grabbed a deserved equaliser through Aritz Aduritz four minutes
later.
But their hopes of a fightback were damaged when Ivica Dragutinovic was red
carded.
Real Madrid put a turbulent week behind them on Saturday with a 2-1 victory
over city rivals Atletico Madrid but Barcelona moved on towards a title defence
with Samuel Eto'o securing a 3-2 home win over Deportivo.
Eto'o was once on Real's books and the capital club could have done with his
19 league goals this term given the erratic form of Ronaldo, dropped for the
Atletico test.
Italian Antonio Cassano filled in admirably on his first league start since a
January move from Roma, however, heading in after just two minutes before
Brazilian Julio Baptista wrapped up the win after Mateja Kezman had given the
visitors brief hope
|
