There was mixed fortunes for the three La Liga title
rivals on Wednesday on a day when Victor Valdes' Barcelona career looked to be
ended.
Atletico Madrid solidified their place at the top of the
table with 1-0 over Granada, while Real Madrid lost 2-1 at Sevilla.
Real's controversial 4-3 Clasico loss to arch-rivals
Barcelona at the Bernabeu on Sunday saw them replaced by Atletico at the
table's summit and they were unable to bounce back from that defeat.
Cristiano Ronaldo gave them a 14th-minute lead at Estadio
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, but the deficit was overturned just a few moments later
as Carlos Bacca poked the ball past Diego Lopez.
The visitors enjoyed more of the ball than their hosts in
the second half, but Bacca's contribution was vital - as he netted his second
with 18 minutes left to give Sevilla all three points.
The victory was Sevilla's sixth consecutive triumph in
the league, moving them to within six points of fourth-placed Athletic Bilbao,
while Real slip three points behind leaders Atletico, who won without playing
particularly well.
Atleti struggled to break through Granada in a
frustrating first half, but top scorer Diego Costa salvaged all three points
after 63 minutes with his 24th Liga goal of the campaign.
Real's defeat means Atleti are a point clear of Barcelona
as the title race swings between three teams.
Barcelona moved up to second, above Real, thanks to their
3-0 home win over Celta Vigo, but the victory was marred by a season-ending
knee injury to goalkeeper Valdes.
The goalkeeper has already announced his intention to
leave at the end of the campaign, meaning that he has played his final game in
a Barcelona shirt.
He suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament after
landing awkwardly while collecting a routine ball into the box, and he is now
set for surgery that also puts his FIFA World Cup participation with Spain in
doubt.
Away from that incident, two goals from Neymar and one
from Lionel Messi was more than enough to see off a Celta side coached by Barca
legend Luis Enrique.
The day's other game saw Rayo Vallecano take a big leap
towards survival as they beat another of the league's relegation contenders,
Osasuna, 1-0 at home.
Rayo went into the match a point above their visitors and
it looked set to end all-square at Estadio de Vallecas as proceedings entered
second-half stoppage time with the scores level.
However, Jose Carlos won a late penalty after a tug from
full-back Damia and forward Joaquin Larrivey converted the resulting spot-kick
to win it.
Culled from Soccerway
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