Valencia slip to defeat at Osasuna - 7M sport

Valencia slip to defeat at Osasuna



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Posted Monday, May 02, 2011 by Supersport.com

Valencia slip to defeat at Osasuna

Valencia's bid to secure third spot in La Liga and an automatic place in next season's Champions League suffered a setback when they lost 1-0 at relegation-threatened Osasuna on Sunday.

The defeat in Pamplona and Villarreal's 2-1 comeback win at home to Getafe left Valencia, thrashed 6-3 at home by Real Madrid last weekend, on 63 points and Villarreal in fourth on 60 with four games left.

"I think today's result was extremely important for many reasons," Villarreal coach Juan Carlos Garrido, whose side were thumped 5-1 at Porto in Thursday's Europa League semifinal first leg, told a news conference.

"Principally for the mental strength that we demonstrated after such a tough game on Thursday," he added.

"We deserve to play in the Champions League next season and we are fighting for that with all our strength."

Osasuna secured a potentially crucial three points at their Reyno de Navarra stadium when a speculative 59th-minute strike by Alvaro Cejudo struck Valencia defender Marius Stankevicius on the back and ricocheted into the net.

Valencia had plenty of possession but were unable to convert it into an equaliser and Osasuna held on to climb out of the relegation places.

Leaders Barcelona and second-placed Real Madrid, who meet in Tuesday's Champions League semifinal second leg with Barca holding a 2-0 advantage, rested key players and were both beaten on Saturday.

Barca, who have an eight-point lead over their arch-rivals, lost 2-1 at Real Sociedad and Real suffered a 3-2 home reverse to struggling Real Zaragoza.

WILD CHALLENGE

Sevilla improved their chances of qualifying for next season's Europa League and climbed back above Atletico Madrid into fifth when a Renato header gave them a 1-0 win at 10-man Almeria earlier on Sunday.

The victory over their Andalusian rivals, who are bottom of the standings and on the verge of relegation, lifted them to 52 points with four games left.

Atletico also have 52 following Saturday's 1-0 success at Deportivo Coruna but are sixth due to an inferior head-to-head record. Athletic Bilbao are on 51 points and can reclaim fifth spot with a win at eighth-placed Espanyol on Monday.

Brazilian midfielder Renato netted Sevilla's winner in the 58th minute at Almeria's Juegos Mediterraneos stadium, six minutes after Danish defender Michael Jakobsen was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Martin Caceres.

Almeria, mired in 20th and last spot, are 12 points behind 17th-placed Deportivo and hanging on in the top flight only by virtue of a superior head-to-head record compared with the Galician side.



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