La Liga Round 23: Raul record helps to close gap

Atletico Madrid 1 - 1 Getafe C.F
Deportivo La Coruna 0 - 0 Osasuna
Espanyol 0 - 2 Sevilla
Sporting de Gijón 0 - 4 Real Madrid
Athletic Bilbao 1 - 1 Recreativo Huelva
Almeria 3 - 2 Valladolid
C.D Numancia 0 - 1 Mallorca
Racing Santander 1 - 1 Villarreal
Real Betis Balompié 2 - 2 Barcelona
Valencia 1 - 1 Málaga

Real Madrid breezed past Sporting Gijon to close the gap at the top to a mere 10 points (snigger) and Raul also scored twice to break Di Stefano's league record for Real Madrid, a great achievement for the number seven. Sporting were outclassed, offering little resistance as Klaas-Jan Huntelaar also recorded his first Merengues goal. Juande Ramos once again scored a clean sheet, his 8th consecutive performance as such, and his side did not seem affected at all by the absence of Arjen Robben. In his place stepped Marcelo, who looked far more comfortable in a more advanced position than he ever did at left-back earlier in the season.

The gap is closed because on Saturday Barcelona recorded something of a surprise draw at Betis. Paco Chaparro's men, buoyed by their derby victory last week, raced into a two goal lead through Melli and ex-Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez. Samuel Eto'o scored twice, including from the spot, two level things up but it showed that Barcelona are not infallible, especially when Messi and Henry don't start. Both sides had chances to win but Ricardo was in excellent form between the sticks for Betis and a draw was the least they deserved.

Sevilla left it late to record an important win at Espanyol which alleviates some of the pressure on Manolo Jiminez. Los Rojiblancos had lost their previous three games including last week's painful derby defeat, but they were able to somewhat exorcise those demons here. They were helped by an Espanyol side whose profligacy seems to know no bounds. Luis Garcia, the striker who hasn't scored since October, was the main offender missing a hatful of chances to leave Mauricio Pochettino exasperated and still looking for his first win in charge at the fifth time of asking. Two goals in the last six minutes from Fredi Kanoute had an air of inevitability about them and Los Pericos are winless in 14 and as a result, finish the weekend bottom of the table, 3 points adrift.

Valencia and Malaga played out a draw, David Villa gave the home side the lead before Raul Albiol put through his own net to equalise. Villarreal and Racing also drew, Zigic gave the verdiblancos the lead only for Santi Cazorla to equalise just before half time. Atletico Madrid were foiled at home to Getafe, Diego Forlan had given Atletico the lead (his third in two) only for Albin to level with two minutes to go. Its a result that means Valencia and Villarreal are level on points in 4th and 5th, Atletico and Malaga two points behind and Sevilla on 41 points in 3rd.

I did say in my preview that Hugo Sanchez can't keep relying on Uche and Negredo to bail his side out but it seems he can after all, so I apologise for wasting your time. Valladolid raced into a two goal lead in Andalucia only for Crusat, Uche and, yes, Negredo to capture three points that means Almeria jump to 13th. To the surprise of absolutely no-one, Deportivo and Osasuna played out a dour 0-0 draw and Mallorca's win in Numancia takes them to third bottom level with Osasuna with Recreativo on 25.

La Liga Preview

Saturday January 17
19:00 Barcelona v Deportivo la Coruna
21:00 Sevilla v C.D Numancia
Sunday January 18
16:00 Villarreal v Mallorca
16:00 Real Madrid v Osasuna
16:00 Getafe C.F v Racing Santander
16:00 Recreativo Huelva v Sporting de Gijón
16:00 Valladolid v Real Betis Balompié
16:00 Málaga v Espanyol
18:00 Athletic Bilbao v Valencia
20:00 Almeria v Atletico Madrid

For the first time in a while there are no stand-out games in this weekend’s round. Top of the pile I suppose is Barcelona hosting Deportivo on Saturday evening. Deportivo have had a wretched last week or so, losing both in the league and cup to Sevilla but Miguel Angel Lotina’s men are still in position for a European spot. However, Barcelona are the runaway leaders and have scored 31 goals in 9 games at home – the visitors will be up against it. Saturday’s other live game comes from the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan as Numancia visit Sevilla. Sevilla’s demanding fans will expect nothing less than a convincing victory against a team desperate to pull away from the relegation places.

Sunday sees Real Madrid welcome Osasuna to the Bernabau. Camacho’s men gave Barcelona an almighty fright last week – can they go one better and get a result here? It looks unlikely but never say never. Villarreal and Mallorca, two teams in bad nick, meet at El Madrigal with the hosts looking for their first win since the end of November. Getafe and Racing, two sides looking over their shoulder, meet in Madrid while Valencia face the not entirely straightforward trip to the San Mames - Joaquin Caparros’s men are unbeaten in six. Real Betis and Valladolid are another duo in bad form clashing, while Sporting visit Andalucia’s struggling Recreativo. Espanyol will do well to get anything out of a trip to Malaga, while the final game of the weekend seems embattled Javier Aguirre take his Atletico outfit to Almeria for a game that promises to see one thing – goals, since both sides are crap at the back.