Madrid, May 5 (IANS) Cristiano Ronaldo’s two goals ensured FC Barcelona cannot be crowned La Liga champions this weekend.
Ronaldo had clearly recovered from the muscle injury which stopped him being at his best during his side’s exit from the Champions League Tuesday. The Portuguese striker scored in the 32nd and 69th minutes Saturday as Real Madrid defeated Valladolid 4-3 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, reports Xinhua.
Perhaps the main point of interest of the game was the fact that the majority of the fans in the Bernabeu roundly booed coach Jose Mourinho before the start of the game.
While the most radical fans supported the coach, it was clear that the exit from the Champions League and Mourinho’s decision to retain Iker Casillas on the substitute bench angered the majority of Real Madrid fans and there were chants in favour of the goalkeeper as well as in favour of the coach’s departure.
The atmosphere got even worse when Valladolid’s Oscar Garcia put the visitors ahead after seven minutes, although a thrilling first half saw Marc Valiente deflect an Angel de Maria shot past his keeper.
Ronaldo’s first goal put Real Madrid in front just after the half hour but Javi Guerra slid home an equaliser after 35 minutes. Kaka scored Madrid’s third goal three minutes after halftime and the game looked to be beyond doubt when Ronaldo’s header made it 4-2 20 minutes from time. However, Lluis Sastre’s strike four minutes from the end made it a nervous end to the game for Real Madrid.
Earlier in the day, Valencia defeated struggling Osasuna 4-0 to keep their hopes of qualifying for next season’s Champions League alive. Roberto Soldado and Ricardo Costa scored for the home side in the last six minutes of the first half and Valencia’s task became even easier when Alejandro Arribas was shown a second yellow card 12 minutes after the break.
Ever Banega put the result beyond doubt after the hour and Jonas Goncalves sealed the win with a penalty deep into injury time.
Granada took a big step towards avoiding relegation with a 1-0 win at home to Malaga. Odion Ighalo scored the only goal of the game after 28 minutes to give his side a win against a very disappointing Malaga.
Deportivo la Coruna continued their unbeaten run with a 0-0 draw at home to Atletico Madrid, who have now dropped to eight points behind Real Madrid in third place while Deportivo remain one point above the relegation zone.
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