| | BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona scored twice in
the last 10 minutes through Abelardo Fernandez and a Patrick
Kluivert penalty for a 2-1 win at Malaga to go back atop the Spanish first division on Saturday.
Its fourth successive league victory took Barca a point
clear of Deportivo Coruna, which can regain the top spot with a home win against Real Oviedo on Sunday.
Real Zaragoza also left it late to record a 2-0 win over
10-man Alaves that saw it move up to third, two points behind
the leaders.
|
Rivaldo, de Boer injured
|
|
BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona midfielder Ronald
de Boer is likely to be out for at least a month after suffering
a tendon injury during a 2-1 league win over Malaga,
the club said on Saturday.
Barcelona also announced that Rivaldo will not travel to
Brazil to play in Tuesday's World Cup qualifier against
Colombia.
The World Player of the Year was taken off midway through
the game against Malaga with a back injury.
De Boer's injury means the Dutch international will miss
Barcelona's Champions League quarterfinal tie against Chelsea,
as well as his next week's international friendly against
Belgium.
"It looks a serious injury," Barca coach Louis van Gaal
commented. "It's a setback for us."
|
Real Madrid had to settle for a 0-0 home draw against city tivals Rayo Vallecano despite dominating most of the second half and is fourth, four points off the pace.
Valencia, like Barca and Real through to the quarterfinals
of the Champions League, ground out a 1-0 home win against Real Mallorca in a poor-quality game.
Malaga was well worth its 1-0 lead against Barcelona,
which came in the 34th minute through Brazilian striker Catanha, as
the Catalans suffered a collective off day.
But the introduction of Xavi Hernandez in place of Pep
Guardiola with 20 minutes to go sparked an immediate improvement
in the Barcelona camp.
Kluivert twice went close before Abelardo rose in the 80th minute
to head in Luis Figo's cross.
Another through ball from the Portuguese eight minutes later
led to the Barca winner. Gabi Garcia was pushed over in the box
as he went up for a header and Kluivert stepped up to stroke in
the penalty.
"It was vital for us to come back and win the game," said
Barca coach Louis van Gaal. "It puts a lot of pressure on our
rivals.
"Malaga fought hard and gave everything, so I'm absolutely
delighted with the result."
Van Gaal must have feared the worst after seeing his side
fall behind to Catanha's neat finish, which came after a strong
run and clever pass from Dario Silva.
Barcelona had created just one decent chance before that -- when Kluivert failed to convert a cross from the out-of-touch Rivaldo -- and \continued to look a long way short of its best until the arrival of Xavi.
The young midfielder injected an urgency into the Barcelona
play, and an equalizing goal began to look inevitable.
Figo forced a fine save from Paco Contrears with a rasping
drive before Dani Garcia set up Kluivert for two half-chances.
The impressive Contreras was finally beaten by Abelardo's
towering header in the 80th minuts before Kluivert had the last word
from the penalty spot.
Real Madrid's scorelless draw with Rayo saw it once again
grateful for the brilliance of young keeper Iker Casillas,
who made good saves from Bolo Perez and Luis Cembranos.
The 1998 European champions, who take on Manchester United
in the quarterfinals of this year's competition, gradually took
control of the game and went close through Steve McManaman, with
a rare header, Raul Gonzalez and Jose Maria Gutierrez.
| |
 |
