Almeria 0 -3 Valencia
Barcelona 6-1 Real Zaragoza
Getafe 2 -0 Athletic Bilbao
Racing Santander 1-1 Osasuna
Tenerife 1-0 Xerez
Valladolid 4-0 Deportivo La Coruna
Villarreal 2-1 Malaga
Atletico Madrid 1-1 Mallorca
Sevilla 0-0 Espanyol
Sporting Gijon 0-0 Real Madrid
Some things in La Liga never change - AS will print whatever Raul tells them; Atletico Madrid will hire (and subsequently fire) highly unsuitable coaches; Racing will bore everyone rigid with downright insulting quality of football and Barcelona will with worrying regularity deliver an absolute mullering to a side in the bottom half at the Camp Nou. This week it was Real Zaragoza, whose mildly encouraging start to the season was curtailed by a hat-trick from Malian midfielder Seydou Keita, who brings his goal tally for the season to 5. Keita is a player rarely singled out for praise but his part in the Pep Guardiola rennaisance should not be under-estimated; versatile, hard-working and incredibly athletic, he contributes plenty. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, somewhat less hard-working but still very effective, continues to impress and got two of his own.
That win meant Barcelona went 3 clear at the top after Real Madrid were held on Saturday at the ever-improving Sporting Gijon. Despite broadly possessing the same squad as last year, coach Manuel Preciado has guided his charges to 7th. Enduring a more traditional second season in the top flight are Malaga, whose Tapia-less campaign is proving disastrous - they provided Villarreal with their first win of the season thanks to goals from Nilmar and Marcos Senna, and are now bottom of the table. Atletico Madrid, who finally put Abel Resino out of his misery in midweek, were denied a second win of the season by Borja Valero's injury time strike.
Back up top, Sevilla drew a blank at home to an obdurate Espanyol side, although they remain impressive at the back with just 5 goals conceded so far. Valencia took advantage of Deportivo's sensational trashing at Valladolid to leapfrog La Coruna into fourth with a win at Almeria. David Villa was first on the scoresheet in a 3-0 victory, and he jointly leads the race for the Pichichi with Zlatan. Getafe made it won 4, lost 4, with a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao and Tenerife captured what could prove to be a significant victory over fellow promoted side Xerex.
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