Those of you who read Last week's liga review could be forgiven for thinking this report describes the very same round of fixtures. But despite Real and Barca squeeking to narrow victories again,
Valencia securing fourth spot, again,
Sevilla and Villareal stumbling again,
Atletíco Madrid making up for lost ground with a win, again,
Emana repeating 2 goal heroics for Betis and Racing and Bilbao continuing their slide from mid-table mediocracy to relegation flirtation.
I assure you, this really is a completely different report!
7 games to go then, and still just 6 points seperate Barcelona and Madrid after the Catalan side dispatched of Getafe. It was another magic moment from Lionel Messi whose nimble footed manouvering and cool finishing after just 19 minutes gifted his side the only goal of the game.
Guardiola was probably right, though, in claiming that it was only thanks to the 'referee's help' that Barcelona didnt score more. Barca had both a strong penalty claim denied, and a seemingly on-side goal dissallowed.
Real Madrid were obliged then to match Barcelona's result, which they did with precision, by also winning by the most slender of margins away to Recreativo.
Marcelo applied the finish to a long raking ball supplied by Gago for the match winner that came just after half-time. The only other major event of the half being the withdrawal of Sneijder whose injury will most likely see him miss the remainder of the season.
So with not much spectacle on the pitch to talk of, the Madrid based media have turned instead to transfer speculation. Rumours have been churned up that Cannavaro has tied up a return to Italy via a free transfer to Juve, that Robben and Juande Ramos could both be sharing a tandem bike out of Madrid should Florentino Perez win the upcoming presidential elections, and then the never-ending story also continues with its inevitable cast of Cristiano Ronaldo, Roman Calderon (playing the part of the clown, for now at least) and Alex Ferguson.
Of course, part of the reason for the minamilist performances of the top two may well lie with the fact that this week also includes a round of mid-week fixtures too. Madrid take on Getafe in a Madrid derby tommorow and Barcelona face 3rd placed Sevilla on Wednesday (so check out the site on Thursday for all the news on those games among others).
Sevilla, however, since seemingly securing third place, have taken their foot of the gas considerably, and are now on the back of two defeats. They lost to Getafe last week and then suffered a mauling at the hands of the newly resurrected Valencia last night.
Sevilla started the game well with centre-back Julien Escude heading in after 9 minutes. But after the goal Valencia's fast passing game began to slice Sevilla apart, and firstly they bled cards. They recieved 5 in 25 minutes, the last being a straight-red handed to full-back Adriano for a horribly rash challenge.
Then they bled goals, the first coming within minutes of Adriano's red, via a Villa penalty awarded after another rash and unnessecary challenge sent Mata tumbling in the box.
Sevilla stemmed the flow of goals at the start of the second half, much to Valencia's and particularly David Villa's frustration, which was all too visible when he and Juaquín were withdrawn in the 75th minute. But snarls soon turned to smiles and joy when 8 minutes later Valencia won another penalty, which this time Mata converted.
The Sevilla boss then also saw red for protesting too strongly before substitute Pablo Hernandez made it 3-1 in the dying moments of the game. Valencia now have a 3 point cushion in 4th spot, one they might well need with Barcelona coming to town on Sunday.
But first they must face the in-form Betis, and their powerhouse striker Achille Emana, who set Betis on their way to victory against Sporting Gijon on Sunday night with a scintillating piece of play that took Sporting apart in 3 deft moves, each more impressive than the last.
The first comes as the Cameroonian striker recieves the ball just inside the Sporting half and controls quickly to plays the ball on, forward and wide left. Next he gets it back, controls and plays into the box for Oliviera.
Oliviera then sets the ball up in the air with a short lofted pass for Emana to run onto. He does so, connecting perfectly with a ferocious volleyed strike that blazes into the far top corner for the game's sensational opener.
Although his second in the 70th minute wasn't quite of the same pedigree, his 4 goal tally in 2
games under new boss Nogués is perhaps as much of a head turner!
Snapping at the heels of Valencia for fourth place of course are Villareal and Atletico Madrid. One a side that seems to have recently hit a slump after Arsenal added insult to their injury-struck side by knocking them out of the Champions League quarter finals. Whilst Atlético are a side busy trying to dig themselves out of the deep hole they buried themselves during the first 3 months of the year.
Nevertheless Atlético's comfortable 3-0 win at home to Numancia and Villareal's scoreless draw at Vallodolid leave the two sides level on 49 points in 5th and 6th Places.
It could have been very different had Rossi converted the penalty he blazed over the bar in the 63rd minute. Replays show that perhaps justice was done, however, as Iñaki Bea doesn't seem to have made any contact with Llorente in the tackle which led to his a red card, and Rossi's miss.
Malaga also spurned a chance to go 4th , if only for a moment, after trading wonderstrikes with their other island rivals Mallorca in the space of 6 second-half minutes. Apoño put Malaga ahead with a scissor kick volley from outside the box but then Arrango replied with a sneaky free kick from distance that levelled matters.
Elsewhere, Espanyol breathed a glimmer of hope into their survival chances with a 1-0 home victory against Racing. Athletic Club Bilbao conceded a late goal at home to Deportivo that leaves them just 4 points from the drop zone.
Whilst Almeria's striker Negredo scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season. The latter coming in the last minute of play to give them a 2-1 victory over Osasuna that puts them in the relative safety of a mid-table position.
Real & Barcelona's run in
JORNADA 32 22/04/2009 Barcelona v Sevilla / R. Madrid v Getafe
JORNADA 33 26/04/2009 Valencia v Barcelona / Sevilla v R. Madrid
JORNADA 34 03/05/2009 R. Madrid v Barcelona
JORNADA 35 10/05/2009 Barcelona v Villarreal / Valencia v R. Madrid
JORNADA 36 17/05/2009 Mallorca v Barcelona / Villarreal v R. Madrid
JORNADA 37 24/05/2009 Barcelona v Osasuna / R. Madrid v Mallorca
JORNADA 38 31/05/2009 Deportivo v Barcelona / Osasuna v R. Madrid
| 1 | Barcelona | 78 |
| 2 | R. Madrid | 72 |
| 3 | Sevilla | 57 |
| 4 | Valencia | 52 |
| 5 | Atlético | 49 |
| 6 | Villarreal | 49 |
| 7 | Málaga | 47 |
| 8 | Deportivo | 46 |
| 9 | Valladolid | 40 |
| 10 | Betis | 37 |
| 11 | Almería | 37 |
| 12 | Mallorca | 36 |
| 13 | Racing | 36 |
| 14 | Osasuna | 35 |
| 15 | Getafe | 34 |
| 16 | Athletic | 34 |
| 17 | Sporting | 33 |
| 18 | Recreativo | 30 |
| 19 | Espanyol | 29 |
| 20 | Numancia | 28 |