Browning continues to smash all before him as Barcelona stand firm in title defence: Jose Gonzales: Jgonzales@marca.com
Things continue to look bright for new Barcelona manager Esteban Browning as his team continue their seemingly relentless march towards their second successive La Liga crown, with the Spanish Supercopa and The World Club Championship already in the bag this could prove to be one of the clubs most successful seasons in a very long time. So since good old Jose here has been suffering from a bout of verbal dihorrea, our look back over the recent run of Barcelona matches will be a bit longer than usual this time around.
Indeed why need to look all the way back to the 22nd of October 2006 for the first match in this sequence (Jose is very lazy when he’s ill – editor). The setting was Camp Nou, the visitors Zaragoza and at stake three vital points in the race towards the La Liga crown. Barcelona found themselves in the ascendancy early on in this one and managed to take the lead in the 9th minute after Samuel Eto’o picked out Javier Saviola with a superb pass, Saviola them skipped past Angel Lafita like he wasn’t there and rattled the ball low into the bottom right hand corner. It looked like the proverbial floodgates were going to open in 13th minute as Xavi picked the ball up 25 yards from goal, after having a quick look around and deciding he had no options the Spanish internationalist rattled the ball towards the goal and it found the top left hand corner. In the 22nd minute it was Xavi and Victor Valdes who combined to gift the visitors a goal, Valdes should have held a tame shot from Lafita but allowed the ball to run free, Xavi was unable to bring the ball under control allowing Ewerthon to get in with the follow up, the striker made no mistake as Valdes was left helpless and Zaragoza had their way back into the match. Three minutes later the home fans were stunned into silence as Zaragoza levelled up the match, after a lovely pass from Andres D’Alessandro, Diego Milito found himself clear of the Barcelona defenders, with the goal at his mercy Milito took his time and carefully picked his spot to level the game. After the horrible first half he had it was no surprise to see Zambrotta replaced with Giovanni van Bronckhorst at half time as Barca looked to try and regain their stranglehold in this match. This looked to be getting worse for the Catalan giants as in the 52nd minute Gerard Pique rattled into Samuel Eto’o with such force that the big Cameroonian striker was forced to come off, being replaced by Fernando Torres. Ten minutes before the final whistle Javier Saviola finally made the breakthrough that Barcelona had been seeking for the entire second half as he got on the end of a Belletti cross with a diving header to restore the home side’s lead. In the end the three goals proved enough to secure all three points but they gave their fans a hell of a fright along the way.
In the midst of all this chaos Xavi was voted man of the match after a wonderful midfield performance.
After their goal went in the Barcelona fans could be heard chanting “biselamos nos paremos” (we can’t be stopped) as it would now appear the fans believe that Browning has what it takes to lead them to the title.
Next up for Senor Browning and his merry band of misfits was a nice trip to lowly Ecija in the first leg of their Copa Del Rey 4th round match. Many fans expected this match to be a vicious mugging as there was no way little Ecija could cope with the strength of their more illustrious opponents. That proved to be pretty much the case as even though they never really managed to get out of second gear Barca dominated this match from start to finish, eventually running out 6-0 winners. It was a tale of two hat tricks here one in each half.
First up was Javier Saviola who rattled in goals in the 3rd, 12th and 37th mins to wrap up his treble. In the second half it was Samuel Eto’o turn as he grabbed his three goals in the 58th, 74th and 85th mins. All in all this was more like a training match for Barca rather than a competitive cup game.
Samuel Eto’o was voted man of the match this time around.
Barcelona fans (all 8 of them) could be heard chanting “¡fácil! ¡fácil! ¡fácil! “ (Easy! Easy! Easy!) Throughout the match.
After the confidence boost a six goal victory brings you, regardless of who your opposition was, who would have envied Racing as they made the trip to Camp Nou, to be fair to Racing they somehow managed to make a game of this one up until the 42nd minute when Barcelona hit Racing and on the break and Ludovic Guily hammed the ball home with a great strike for his first goal of the season. Three minutes later it was the turn of little Leo Messi as he got on the end of a Xavi corner and headed the ball home from close range. Racing where caught on the break again in the 89th minute as Puyol hit his clearance long up the pitch; the Racing defence seemed to have switched off as Javier Saviola ran right through them all to collect the ball and hit it low into the net. Captain Carlos Puyol was voted man of the match in this one.
Barcelona fans could be heard to chant “gracias por los puntos” (thanks for the points) during the final ten minutes of the match.
Next it was back to Champions League duty for the defending champions as they looked to secure their place in the first knockout stage. Victory against Fenerbache would see Barca go through. Things didn’t exactly start the way Browning would have planned as in the 16th minute he saw his side torn apart by an excellent passing move from the Turks which ended with former Chelsea hit man (see diddy) Mateja Kezman slamming the ball past the helpless Victor Valdes. Disaster struck for the Turks in the 25th minute though as Selcuk had a simple clearance to deal with, but the big man sliced the ball right to Javier Saviola who was standing completely unmarked 10 yards from goal, strikers of Saviola’s quality don’t miss those sort of chances and he demonstrated this by stroking the ball home to level the match. Saviola was on target again in the 34th minute after a wonderful move in which Barca strung about 26 passes together before the ball fell to the Argentine who was left with the most simple of finishes. The result was put beyond doubt in the 51st minute when Deco hammered home a free kick from the edge of the box to score his 5th goal of the season. It was no surprise to see two goal hero Saviola voted man of the match.
On realising that they had qualified the Barcelona fans chanted “Liverpool no ganará la taza que” (Liverpool won’t win the cup, we will!) a clear response to Liverpool manager Sandy Pettigrew’s ridiculous claims that his side would win the Champions League this season.
Next up Barca paid a visit to the Nou Estadi as they faced Gimnastic, who in this match gave as good as they got and were unlucky not to come away from the match with at least a point. Javier Saviola managed to get clear of the last defender after a Zambrotta throw in and made no mistake from 15 yards in the 34th minute. Saviola was the danger man again as he struck in the 56th minute to double the advantage for visitors after getting on the end of a Leo Messi cross. Gimnastic pulled a (well deserved) goal back in the 56th minute through a Cesar Navas header after some nice play out wide by Gil, who beat 3 Barcelona players before floating a beautiful cross into the box. The result seemed to have been put beyond all doubt in the 85th minute when out of nowhere Deco rattled home a 30 yard screamer to leave everyone in the stadium stunned. But even with only five minutes remaining Gimnastic battled back and grabbed a second goal in the 88th minute after Ruz waltzed through the Barcelona defence who appeared to have switched and curled the ball in at the near post, Llera met the ball with his head and it was 3-2! Sadly for Gimnastic a mere sixty seconds later the result was put beyond all doubt as Eidur Gudjohnsen made it 4-2 after some nice interplay between himself and Saviola. No shock again to see Argentinean striker Saviola voted man of the match.
The chants of “una suerte mejor la vez próxima” (better luck next time) came up from the Barca fans after the 4th goal went in.
Next up it was poor Ecija’s turn to visit Camp Nou for the 2nd leg of their Copa Del Rey Clash, having lost the first leg 6-0 they could only hope to try and keep things more respectable in this one, sadly it wasn’t to be as they lost 8-0 this time around.
Fernando Torres helped himself to
six goals in this one, in 8,51,55,70,75 and 85 mins.
Thiago Motta also grabbed a goal in the 17th minute and Ronaldinho scored a penalty in the 65th minute, Aitor Zebala was sent off for Ecija in the 68th minute. Shockingly Fernando Torres was voted man of the match, and no chanting could be heard from the Barca fans come the end of this, I think even they felt a little sorry for little Ecija and their crushing 14-0 aggregate defeat.
A tough trip to Sevilla followed next as Barcelona visited Real Betis, Betis had been going well in the Premiera Division and this proved to be a tricky match for the defending champions to negotiate. The match itself was a fairly drab affair was the bulk of the game played out in midfield was both teams struggled to assert their authority on the match. However the mark of champions is winning when you don’t play well and that is exactly what happened here, Deco managed to find Saviola with a good pass and the little man made no mistake from 8 yards out. Betis keeper Oswaldo Sanchez was voted man of the match.
Barca fans chanted “podemos compramos tu portero” (can you buy your goalkeeper” thought the majority of the second half.
Next it was the turn of Atletico Madrid to visit Camp Nou and having lost their star striker Fernando Torres to Barca in the summer they would be hoping he wasn’t going to come back and haunt them, sadly for them he did. It only took 17 minutes for Torres to come back to haunt his former employers as Petrov tripped Ronaldinho, Belletti centred the resulting free kick and Torres buried it. Gabi was furious the goal was allowed to stand as he was convinced Torres was in an offside position. With only 24 minutes on the clock Thiago Motta had doubled the home side’s advantage as he took on 3 Atletico players and beat them all before rounding the goalkeeper and slotting the ball home. Martin Petrov pulled one back for this visitors in the 31st minute as Roque Santa Cruz found him with a nice pass 30 yards from goal, Petrov ran a further 10 yards before unleashing a crashing shot past the flailing Victor Valdes. The match stayed finely balanced like this until the 83rd minute when former Atletico golden boy Fernando Torres secured all three points for his new employers. Javier Saviola chased a seemingly hopeless ball down the right hand side, his persistence was rewarded he whipped in a lovely cross that was met by the head of the diving Torres.
As if to rub salt in Atletico’s wounds Fernando Torres was voted man of the match amid chants of “
apuesta que deseas que ahora no lo hab*as vendido” (bet you wish you hadn’t sold him now) from the gloating Barcelona fans.
At with that it was back to Champions League duty as the holders jetted off to Rome to face a Roma side in crisis. The Italians for whatever reason had appointed some unknown named Gareth Jenkinson as manager over the course of the summer, but unlike our very own boy wonder here at Barcelona Jenkinson hasn’t been performing well at all. Roma found themselves in the unenviable position of having to win this match to stay in the competition and sadly for them it just wasn’t to be.
It was our little argie hero Javier Saviola that opened the scoring for us in the 23rd minute after Ronaldinho had picked him out with a wonderful pass allowing Saviola to volley the ball into the back of the net. Three minutes later Roma looked certain to be crashing out of the Champions league was Fernando Torres doubled the advantage, heading the ball home after being picked out by Belletti’s inch perfect cross. The result was pretty much put beyond all doubt in the 39th minute after Vuncinic fouled Javier Saviola on the edge of the box and Deco hammered the resulting free kick past the helpless Roma keeper, rumours have swept press circles that Jenkinson began to cry at this moment, although we have been unable to confirm this fact. Roma did manage to pull one back in the 88th minute through Simone Perrota, but by this point no one, not even their own manager, cared anymore. Fernando Torres was voted man of the match by someone or another. Barca fans chanted “desea el jenkinson vivo” (long live jenkinson) long into the cold Roman night.
As Barca headed back to their home city to face Espanyol at Lluis Companys, spirits must have been high after the way they dismantled Roma on their own patch, Espanyol would bring them back to earth with a bump however. Things started out really for Barcelona too as in the 24th minute Javier Saviola saw Espanyol keeper Kameni beat his close range shot away, but the rebound fell to Fernando Torres who was left with the simplest of tap ins to open the scoring. Five minutes later though Espanyol found themselves back on level terms through Raul Tamudo, Barcelona being caught out by a quick counter attacking move. Five minutes later Tamudo was on target again this time after a wonderful pass from Rufete sent him on his way, Barcelona fans could not believe what they where seeing, and little did they know it was about to get worse...............much worse.
Right on the stroke of half time Tamudo (who else eh?) was at it again as he smashed the ball past Victor Valdes after a dodgy Rafa Marquez clearance. Esteban Browning clearly incensed by something could be seen remonstrating with the Espanyol management team as both sets of players and officials made their way up the tunnel at half time. In the 67th minute that idiot Belletti was show a yellow card for a push on Moha, all fine and well you may say? But the clown had been shown one in the first half for something equally as stupid and was sent off. However that withstanding, Barca still managed to pull a goal back in the 75th minute through Javier Saviola. Sadly for Barca just three minutes later Coro restored the two goal cushion for Espanyol with a simply stunning strike from all of 30 yards. Barcelona found themselves down to nine mean after Javier Saviola was ordered off in the 81st minute for his second book able offence. A minute later Raul Tamudo completed the rout with his fourth goal of the game. No surprise that four goal hero Tamudo was voted man of the match. Barcelona fans were too stunned by their teams capitulation to chant anything this time around.
After the massacre against Espanyol fans would be hoping Browning could turn things around and damn quickly. They had their chance a week later against Levante at Camp Nou. This was the kind of performance that Barca fans had come to expect from their team as Levante were swept aside with relative ease. With only six minutes on the clock Fernando Torres had opened the scoring after he was sent clean through by a lovely ball from Samuel Eto’o. Six minutes later Torres was back on the score sheet as he got on the end of a Ronaldinho cross. Ronaldinho got on the score sheet himself in the 23rd minute as he got on the end of a Zambrotta cross from the right hand side. Samuel Eto’o went on a great solo run in the 52nd minute taking on three players in the process before scoring with a great strike.
Levante were out classed and out played from start to finish in the one. Brazilian wing wizard Ronaldinho was voted man of the match. After the final whistle the Barcelona fans
chanted “gracias por hacer nos mirada buena” (thank you for making us look good).
Next up for Barca was the conclusion of Champions League Group G as Olympiakos visited Camp Nou with both sides already through the next stage this game was pretty irrelevant. But none the less both sides would have wanted to win the game. Barca would emerge victorious from this one though. Fernando Torres opened the scoring on the 12th minute after Eto’o played him. Eto’o himself got on the score sheet in the 45th minute after he picked up the ball from Leo Messi and found himself in the clear before driving a low ball into the bottom right hand corner of the net. Xavi added a third in the 67th minute as he lashed the ball in from 35 yards out.
Ronaldinho was named man of the match. While the Barcelona fans chanted “traer en los wánkers del scouse” (bring on the scouse wankers) a clear reference of their preferred draw in the next stage of the competition. Sadly they will have to wait if they want Liverpool as Barca where drawn against French side Lille in the first knockout round of the competition.
The chance of more silverware loomed next for Browning and his merry men as he lead his side to Japan to take part in the World Club Championship. Their Semi Final match saw them take on Al-Ittihad (KSA) of Saudi Arabia. Well many expected a murder here this wasn’t the case, although Barca where never in any danger of losing this match. The first goal of the game came via an own goal from Abdul Rahman Al-Faraj in the first minute. Another goal didn’t come until right on the stroke of half time when Leo Messi fed the ball through to Fernando Torres who spun on the ball before unleashing a 20 yard shot past the helpless Saudi keeper. Barca confirmed their passage into the final in the 78th minute when Samuel Eto’o headed the ball home from a Ronaldinho corner. The poor Saudi’s had only one effort at goal for the entire 90mins while Barcelona had 32, more than one every three minutes, which should give you an idea of how this game panned out. Ronaldinho was voted man of the match. After the match the Barcelona fans chanted “no debes ser permitido jugar al balompié” (you should not be allowed to play football) to mock their lesser opponents.
Onwards to the final for the mighty Barca, against Brazilian diddies Internacional. Fans didn’t have to wait long for their hero’s to grab a goal as Samuel Eto’o opened the scoring in 9mins with one of his trademark headers. In the 25th minute Edinho managed to out jump Rafa Marquez and head the ball home to level the match for Internacional. Fernando Torres put Barcelona back in the lead in the 33rd minute after Leo Messi whipped a lovely low cross to the near post. The result was put beyond all doubt as Deco added number 3 in the 58th minute with a wonderful free kick from 30 yards.
The only sour note for the new champions was Samuel Eto’o being cut down by the dirty Brazilian hatchet men in the 67th minute with an injury that would later be revealed to keep out of the game for the next two months.
Xavi was voted man of the match and the Barcelona fans chanted “gracias por otro trofeo” (Thank you for another trophy) in the direction of manager Esteban Browning.
With another trophy wrapped up it was back to La Liga for the defending champions and this time it was Osasuna that stood in-between them and three points. Basically it stayed that way for ninety minutes too as neither side created much in the way of well, anything really! The only highlight of any note was Fernando Torres going off injured after only ten minutes. A total waste of a football game.
Rafa Marquez was voted man of the match, and the chants of the Barcelona fans couldn’t be heard over the yawns.
Next up was Real Sociedad away from home; fans didn’t have to wait long for a goal either as Fernando Torres gave Barca an early lead in the 2nd minute after working himself free of the last defender and calmly passing the ball into the net. Not the start Sociedad had in mind one would imagine. In the 39th minute Ronaldinho delightfully knocked the ball past Gerardo and beat him with his turn of pace, before any of the remaining Sociedad defenders had realised what was happening Ronaldinho had literally passed the ball into the net. Things got worse for the home side in the 78th minute after Diego Rivas went in with a vicious two footed lunge on Thiago Motta; the referee had no hesitation in sending Rivas off. Xavi finished off Sociedad in the 88th minute as he broke free of two defenders and surged into the box before hammering the ball into the net.
Ronaldinho was voted man of the match by someone, and the Barcelona fans could be heard to sing “habr*as podido por lo menos dar vuelta para arriba” (you could have at least turned up) a clear jibe at what they felt to be a lacklustre Sociedad performance.
Barcelona then headed for the Coliseum Alfonso Perez to face Getafe, and Getafe managed to do something that very few teams have managed to do this season, take something from a match with Barcelona. Things looked like they would be following a familiar script as Ronaldinho opened the scoring in the 15th minute with a brilliant free kick. But after this point Barca seemed to lose the ability to stick the ball in the net, as they made good chance after good chance but couldn’t convert them. The price for not converting these chances would be paid in the 52nd minute as Casquero got free of Carlos Puyol and drove the ball past Victor Valdes to level the game. Try as they might Barcelona could not find a second goal to grab all three points. Unsurprisingly Getafe goalkeeper Roberto Abbondanzieri was voted man of the match after a string of world class stops. To which the Barcelona fans chanted “podr*as jugar para nosotros” (you could play for us) in appreciation of the skill of the player who had denied them all three points.
Next it was off to Sevilla to face Sevilla in the 5th round of the Copa Del Rey. This match had been hyped as the tie of the round but in reality it was a bit of a letdown. The first half looked like it was going to be a goalless affair until the 42nd minute when Daniel Alves sent Alexndr Kerzhakov clear through, Kerzhakov chipped the ball over the advancing Valdes to give Sevilla the lead. The rest of the match was more of the same rubbish until Ronaldinho delivered a brilliant ball to Samuel Eto’o in the 78th minute for Eto’o to hammer it home and level the game up for the visitors. Eto’o would go off injured a minute later but he had still done enough to secure the man of the match award. Fans of Barca could be heard chanting “ganaremos esta taza también” (we will win this cup too) after the final whistle.
Mallorca would pay a visit to Camp Nou next and again Barcelona would make hard work out of winning the game, the only goal of the game would come in the 35th minute through Ronaldinho after he flighted a free kick in from 30yards.
The rest of game was more missed chances and good defending from Mallorca. Not the greatest performance ever, but still another three points as the Catalan giants continue their march to the defence of their title.
Barca faced up to Recreativo next and the result would prove to be a lot different from the result most people expected. Within the first sixty seconds of the game Fernando Torres had been sent off as he hacked down Jose Sosa with a dangerous two footed tackle after Sosa had used a wonderful piece of skill to turn away from Torres. Recreativo then went on to take the lead through Nigerian International Ikechukwu Uche in the 19th minute after a luck deflection off of Andres Iniesta. Credit to Barcelona though they never gave up and got their reward in the 67th minute, Iniesta floated in the a corner from the right hand side, Marquez flicked the ball on with his head, the ball found it’s way to Thiago Motta who smashed it home to level the game up. Andres Iniesta was voted man of the match. Fans chanting “no parecemos campeones hoy” (we don’t look like champions today) where obviously frustrated by their team’s performance.
As Sevilla paid their visit to Camp Nou in this La Liga Clash, Barcelona were going through a bit a striker crisis which meant today Leo Messi would be playing up front partnering ex Chelsea diddy Eidur Gudjohnsen. With this lack of a recognised striker Sevilla must have been robbing themselves with glee.
Sadly things never quite turned out as they would have expected as Messi took to his new role like a duck to water, his first goal of the day came in the 41st minute after a superb pass from Xavi. In the 49th minute Messi had doubled his haul after scoring from a tight angle with an amazing lob. Poulsen was then sent off for Sevilla in the 58th minute for his second book able offence. Chevanton pulled one back for Sevilla to put them back in with a shout in the 58th minute after some poor defending from Barca. The result was put beyond all doubt in the 81st minute though as Gudjohnsen fed the ball through for Guily who coolly slotted it home.
Makeshift striker Leo Messi was voted man of the match. “no hicimos ningún buen huelguista caber y ganamos de todos modos” (we have no good fit strikers but we won anyway) was the chant directed at the Sevilla fans by the jubilant Barcelona fans.
As the battle continued for the Copa Del Rey Baca headed to El Madrigal to face Villarreal. An efficient performance saw them run out comfortable winners.
A double from Fernando Torres (30mins and 39mins) put them well on their way and Ludovic Guily killed the game off right on the stroke of halftime with his well taken strike.
Fernando Torres was voted man of the match and the Barca fans may well have been chanting something but I wasn’t listening.
As Barcelona visited the Santiago Bernabeu on the February the 2nd the horrible realisation must have dawned on Real manager Rob Perry that his side had to win to remain in the title race, having already lost at Camp Nou this season Perry would also have been looking to win this match on his own patch and give the fans something to gloat about. Sadly he failed to mention these plans to Barcelona as they stole a smash and grab win over their biggest rivals.
The scoring was opened the 17th minute through Samuel Eto’o after Gudjohnsen nodded the ball on for him, having caught out the defence Eto’o was allowed to continue unchallenged into the penalty area where he unleashed a ferocious shot into the bottom left hand corner. Real Madrid were back on level terms with in three minutes though, as Vanden Borre turned with the ball and delivered an inch perfect pass to recent new signing Mancini who passed the ball past that diddy Valdes in the Barcelona goal. The next goal came in the 61st minute and it came for Real Madrid, Robinho rattled a drive at Victor Valdes but all Valdes could do is push the ball away and Klass-Jan Huntelaar as there to hammer the rebound home. They would only hold the lead for 48 seconds though as Casillas went to play the ball out to Babel but Gianluca Zambrotta showed great awareness to intercept the pass and set Samuel Eto’o racing clear, strikers of Eto’o’s quality don’t miss that often and this was to be no exception as he rattled his second of the game home. With 81mins on the clock Eidur Gudjohnsen sent the travelling fans wild as he fired Barcelona into the lead, after he raced away from Fabio Cannavaro. Real were awarded a penalty in the 89th minute after Deco body checked Huntelaar but Digard blasted his effort straight at Victor Valdes who saved easily, many of my fellow press men commented on how Rob Perry’s face dropped at this moment, the look of a man who knew fine well his team was out of the championship race. Gudjohnsen would further insult to Perry’s injury as in the dying seconds of the game Iker Casillas was beaten for a fourth time.
Samuel Eto’o was voted man of the match.
After the match the Barcelona fans chanted “no todos los encargados son como el Rob Perry, la mayor*a son mejores” (not all managers are like Rob Perry, most are better).
The final game of our little (little? Aye right!) Recap sees us revisit Barcelona’s most recent game against Villarreal in La Liga. It was not a very good first half for Villarreal as in the 42nd minute Zapater was given a straight red card for what can only be described as an assault on Xavi. Three minutes later Fuentes scored an own goal to give Barca the lead. The second half wasn’t really any better as Eidur Gudjohnsen doubled the score in the 52nd minute. Cani was ordered off for something stupid in the 71st minute.
Leo Messi was voted man of the match.
The Barcelona fans chanted “intentar guardar a once hombres en el parque la vez próxima” (try keeping eleven men on the park next time).
There we have it, the complete recap for Barcelona for the time being.
The La Liga Table now looks like this :
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Holders - Barcelona| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | | Barcelona | | 24 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 61 | 21 | +40 | 59 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Valencia | | 24 | 16 | 6 | 2 | 34 | 12 | +22 | 54 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | R. Madrid | | 24 | 14 | 5 | 5 | 48 | 20 | +28 | 47 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Athletic | | 24 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 45 | 22 | +23 | 44 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Espanyol | | 24 | 13 | 3 | 8 | 41 | 28 | +13 | 42 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Villarreal | | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 38 | +1 | 40 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | Sevilla | | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 32 | 26 | +6 | 38 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Mallorca | | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 29 | 32 | -3 | 36 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Getafe | | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 28 | 36 | -8 | 32 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | Atlético | | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 33 | 0 | 32 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | Zaragoza | | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 31 | 32 | -1 | 29 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | Levante | | 23 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 26 | 33 | -7 | 28 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Osasuna | | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 36 | -7 | 27 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Betis | | 23 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 33 | -12 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Gimn*stic | | 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 25 | 37 | -12 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | | R. Sociedad | | 24 | 5 | 10 | 9 | 20 | 33 | -13 | 25 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | | Celta | | 24 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 21 | 36 | -15 | 22 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | | Racing | | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 26 | 46 | -20 | 21 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 19th | | Deportivo | | 24 | 4 | 7 | 13 | 32 | 42 | -10 | 19 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 20th | | Recreativo | | 24 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 25 | 50 | -25 | 16 | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| </pre>
With 14 games left in the Spanish season it looks like it’s going to take a massive effort from Valencia to dislodge them now, Real Madrid are now out of the picture, The team is still in the Champions League and the Copa Del Rey, if things continue to go as well as they have been for Esteban Browning this could be one of the most successful debut seasons for any manager anywhere in the world.
This is Jose Gonzales reporting for Marca
The game kicked off and while the managers were still nursing there bruised hands Gennaro Gattuso let rip a thunderous strike to put the Rossoneri ahead with only seconds on the clock :eek: Francesco Totti decided to haunt his former club with a goal that would match many of those he scored in Roma colours The second half saw Roma trying to get back in the game but Milan defended well and then right at the death added insult to injury when Fat Ron struck a superb goal from outside of the box to seal a magnificent win and ensure that Milan have every chance of making it to the final 
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