Spanish Primera Liga week 33 - 19th April

• Author: admin
• Filed under: Primera Liga
• Date: Apr 20,2008

Barcelona’s title hopes appear to be almost lost following a goalless draw at home to Espanyol in the Catalan derby on Saturday night.

Frank Rijkaard’s side dominated possession throughout, but missed a hatful of chances and now look out of the title race with five games still remaining.

Barca will find themselves 11 points off the pace if leaders Real Madrid beat Racing Santander on Sunday.

Real Betis boosted their hopes of avoiding the drop and in the process dented Atletico Madrid’s Champions League dreams with a deserved 3-1 victory at the Vicente Calderon on Saturday.

Juande, Xisco and Jesus Capi struck Betis’ goals as Paco Chaparro’s men recorded their fourth win in five games and moved beyond the 42-point margin that usually equates to safety in La Liga.

Sevilla’s bid for a Champions League berth took a severe blow on Saturday as they were beaten 4-1 by Almeria at the Ramon-Sanchez Pizjuan.

Sevilla got off to a bad start when Daniel Alves headed into his own net before Almeria striker Alvaro Negredo struck the post with a penalty.

Negredo made amends to bundle in a loose ball after the break and Juanma Ortiz then made it 3-0.

Sevilla had Adriano sent off in the 65th minute and almost immediately Negredo flicked in his second with the outside of his foot.

Mali striker Frederic Kanoute had a penalty saved before pulling one back for Sevilla near the end.

Two early goals propelled Real Zaragoza out of the relegation zone at the expense of their opponents on Saturday as they beat Recreativo Huelva 3-0 at the Estadio La Romareda.

Sergio Garcia grabbed the first just 90 seconds into the contest and Ricardo Oliveira doubled the advantage in the 21st minute. Oliveira then settled things 12 minutes from time with his second.