28 May 2007, by Sean Gillen

Exciting La Liga battle turns into three-horse race

Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla vying for Spanish title

Valencia bowed out of the Spanish La Liga title race on Sunday with a 3-2 home defeat to Villarreal, while Real Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla all won to keep things close at the top going into the final two matches of the season.

Valencia were already outsiders for the title, with a four-point gap between themselves and leaders Real Madrid going into their match with Villarreal at the Mestalla. Miguel continued at right-back for Los Ches, who had to win to stay in the title race.

Things began well for the home side when David Villa won and scored a penalty on 21 minutes, but Diego Forlan sprung the offside trap to draw Villarreal level ten minutes before half time.

Substitute Jon Dahl Tomasson put the visitors ahead with his first touch in the 79th minute, before Forlan added a second in the closing stages to put an end to Valencia’s La Liga dream. Emiliano Moretti nodded in a late consolation in stoppage time for Quiqe Flores’ side, but Valencia are likely to have to settle for fourth place and Champions League qualification.

Real Madrid’s 3-1 home win over Deportivo put both Barcelona and Sevilla under pressure to win their home matches on Saturday and Sunday respectively.

The Champions entertained Getafe at the Nou Camp, with Portuguese midfielder Deco sporting a new shaved haircut for the occasion. The nerves amongst the 64,000 crowd were settled early on when Samuel Eto’o raced through and drew the goalkeeper before sliding across for Ronaldinho to tap into an empty net.

Ronaldinho sees red

Getafe struggled to really cause Barca many problems during the match, but they were given a boost when Ronaldinho was sent off for kicking out five minutes before half time.

Despite playing the second half with ten men, Barca were rarely troubled by the visitors, although coach Frank Rijkaard was clearly anxious to avoid another last-minute equaliser, as had been the case in their last home match against Betis. Both Lionel Messi and Xavi were replaced in the dying minutes as the champions managed to wind down the clock to secure a crucial three points.

Sevilla had the most difficult match of the top four sides, on Sunday evening at home against 5th place Zaragoza. Duda was on the bench for the Andalucians, but would prove crucial to another win to stay within touching distance of the top two.

Luis Fabiano put Sevilla ahead in the 27th minute, before Freddie Kanoute missed a first half penalty for the home side, but Andres D’Alessandro’s corner fifteen minutes from time was headed into his own net by Dani Alves to see Zaragoza draw level.

Duda decisive

Sevilla coach Juande Ramos called for Duda almost immediately, and the winger missed an excellent opportunity to restore his side’s lead shortly after coming on. However, the former Malaga man soon made amends when he won a lose ball to set up Aleksandr Kerzhakov to make it 2-1 on 83 minutes.

Duda was again involved in the third goal in injury time, playing the ball down the right flank to Kerzhakov, who crossed for top goalscorer Kanoute to volley past Cesar Sanchez.

La Liga standings (36 games played)
Real Madrid – 72 pts
Barcelona – 72 pts
Sevilla – 70 pts

Remaining fixtures:

Real Madrid:
Zaragoza (away)
Mallorca (home)

Barcelona:
Espanyol (home)
Gimnastic (away)

Sevilla:
Mallorca (away)
Villarreal (home)