City rivals dent Barca's title hopes

Apr 19, 2008 - 10:53 PM By PA SportsTicker

Barcelona's title hopes suffered a further blow on Saturday with a disappointing goalless draw at home to Espanyol in the Catalan derby.

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.

Sevilla's Champions League ambitions suffered a major blow after they were thrashed 4-1 at home by Almeria.

The visitors, who remain in contention for a UEFA Cup spot, went ahead when Dani Alves nodded into his own net after 24 minutes.

Alvaro Negredo, who earlier missed a penalty, made it 2-0 before efforts from Juanma Ortiz and Negredo stunned the Ramon-Sanchez Pizjuan.

Sevilla were down to 10 men by the time Negredo grabbed his second of the evening although they did end on a high when Fredi Kanoute stabbed home from close range.

At the other end of the table, 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.

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.

Recreativo's efforts to get back into the game were dealt a major blow in the 41st minute when Marco Ruben saw red after two bookings in the space of two minutes, but the numbers would later be levelled up when Pascual Vicente was also dismissed.

And 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 in the capital.

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.

Atletico star Sergio Aguero had netted a first-half equalizer for the Rojiblancos, but it was another hugely disappointing display from Javier Aguirre's side, who were held 1-1 at lowly Real Valladolid last weekend.

On Sunday, Valencia travel to Athletic Bilbao, Levante face Getafe, Murcia entertain Real Mallorca, Osasuna meet Deportivo La Coruna and Villarreal take on Real Valladolid.