Sevilla, Atletico eye Euro qualification
Sevilla and Atletico Madrid both made their claims for European football next season with wins on Sunday in La Liga.
Sunday
Sevilla clung on for a win to boost their push for European qualification against Villarreal at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Ivan Rakitic and Alvaro Negredo gave the hosts an early 2-0 lead which was cut shortly after half-time by Carlos Marchena.
Substitutes Ndri Romaric and Giuseppe Rossi then traded goals before Marchena was sent off for an overdue second booking.
Real Mallorca took a giant step towards ensuring they will be playing La Liga football again next season with a 2-0 victory over Getafe, who in contrast slipped further into the relegation mire.
Headed goals in either half from Jose Carlos Nunes and Akihiro Ienaga earned Mallorca the spoils and lifted Michael Laudrup's side onto 42 points - which has been enough to guarantee top-flight safety in seven of the last nine seasons.
Hercules also picked up a vital three points as a 1-0 victory against mid-table Deportivo kept their survival bid on track.
A solitary Tiago Gomes strike was enough to take the home side within two points of 17th-placed Osasuna while defeat means Deportivo stay 13th, only five points ahead of Hercules.
Sporting Gijon took a giant step towards survival and dented Espanyol's European hopes in the process as they beat the Barcelona-based side 1-0 in the teams' clash at El Molinon.
Nacho Novo scored the only goal of the game to see Sporting break the 40-point barrier with five league games still remaining and extend Espanyol's miserable recent run.
The Catalans had lost eight of their previous 12 league matches, but had hoped to boost their flailing European hopes with a win in this game.
But coach Mauricio Pochettino was missing eight first-team players through injury and more significantly, his side were bereft of confidence.
Malaga moved three points clear of the relegation zone after clinging on for a valuable 2-1 victory ar Racing Santander.
Julio Baptista was again a key figure for Manuel Pellegrini's side.
The Brazil forward returned from injury to fire two goals in the 3-0 win at home to Real Mallorca last weekend and was on target again with a stunning strike in this clash to give Malaga the lead after 31 minutes and he also played a big part in his side's second goal - scored by Sebas Fernandez - moments later.
Racing piled on the pressure in the second period and Markus Rosenberg gave the Cantabrians hope with 17 minutes left, but Malaga remained firm to claim all three points and move clear of the bottom three with five games remaining.
Captain Sergio Aguero scored twice as Atletico Madrid strengthened their bid for a Europa League berth with a 4-1 victory over in-form Levante at the Vicente Calderon.
Atletico took the lead through Elias' free-kick and, although Levante levelled just before half-time with a Felipe Caicedo penalty, Aguero netted two goals after the break to put the Rojiblancos in charge before a late own goal from visiting goalkeeper Gustavo Munua completed the scoring.
Saturday
Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat-trick as Real Madrid's second string trashed Valencia 6-3 in an extraordinary La Liga match at Mestalla.
Madrid - given a guard of honour by Valencia after their Copa del Rey win over Barcelona on Wednesday night - changed all but two players from the final but raced into a 4-0 lead at the break through Higuain (two), Karim Benzema and Kaka.
Further strikes from the Argentinian and the Brazilian in the second period, as well as three Valencia goals - scored by Roberto Soldado, Jonas Goncalves and Jordi Alba - finished a game that ensures the battle for the title continues for at least another two weeks.
However, Barcelona retain their eight-point lead at the top of the standings after beating Osasuna 2-0.
Lionel Messi netted his 50th competitive goal of the season and David Villa ended his goal drought as Barca recovered from the cup defeat.
Athletic Bilbao strengthened their hold on fifth place with a 2-1 win over Real Sociedad.
Athletic players were responsible for all three goals with Muniain opening the scoring in the 18th minute before Gaizka Toquero doubled the advantage.
But moments after the half-hour mark Javi Martinez put into his own net to give the visitors hope they could not build on.
Sunday Match Reports
Saturday Match Reports
Valencia 3-6 Real Madrid I Post-Match Reaction
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