Real Madrid suffered a huge blow to their La Liga title hopes as a 2-1 win for Sevilla sent them crashing to a second defeat in four days on Wednesday.
League
leaders Atletico Madrid now lead Real by three points and have a better
head-to-head record against Los Blancos as they beat Granada 1-0.
Barcelona
moved into second place, a point behind Atletico, with a 3-0 win over Celta
Vigo at the Camp Nou thanks to a double from Neymar.
But it
was a bittersweet night for the Catalans as goalkeeper Victor Valdes may have
played his last game for the club after suffering cruciate ligament damage that
will rule him out of the World Cup.
Real were
looking to react from a first defeat in 32 games on Sunday as they lost a
thrilling El Clasico 4-3 to Barcelona and they started brightly with Gareth
Bale and Karim Benzema going close inside the first 10 minutes.
Ronaldo
did open the scoring 14 minutes in as his free-kick cannoned off Ivan Rakitic
to leave Sevilla goalkeeper Beto helpless.
Sevilla's Colombian forward Carlos Bacca
(L) celebrates with his teammates after scoring during …
The lead
lasted only four minutes as Bacca finished off a fine move by converting Jose
Antonio Reyes' pass from close range.
Reyes
could then have put his side in front as Bacca returned the favour, but the
former Arsenal man dragged his shot just wide.
Ronaldo was somehow denied his second of the night moments later as this time he lifted the ball over Beto, but the ball struck the inside of the post and rolled across the line before being cleared by a Sevilla defender.
Madrid
continued to press after the break, but were struck on the counter-attack 18
minutes from time when wonderful play by Rakitic took him past Pepe and the
Croatian played in Bacca to fire home his second of the night.
Beto was
called into action once more to deny Ronaldo moments later, but for all their
possession Madrid failed to carve out another clear opening and their hopes of
salvaging anything from the game disappeared when Bale's free-kick flew over in
the final minute.
Barcelona's goalkeeper Victor Valdes
leaves the pitch on a stretcher after being injured during …
And Real boss Carlo Ancelotti lamented his
side's inability to deal with Sevilla on the counter-attack.
"In
one sense the defeat could be deserved because we didn't prepare well for the
counter-attack which Sevilla had and they scored two goals," he said.
"We
conceded two goals in the same way on the counter-attack when we needed more
balance."
However, the Italian still believes his side
have a chance to redeem themselves in the final eight games of the season.
"We
need to concentrate on our own games, it is true we have lost two games in a
row and that is not good at this point in the season.
"We
need to believe that we can win it still. We are three points behind Atletico
and two behind Barcelona, everything is still possible."
Barcelona's Brazilian forward Neymar
celebrates after scoring during the Spanish league football …
- Destiny
in Barca's hands -
Barcelona
now have the destiny of the title in their own hands as they host Atletico on
the final day of the season.
However, their joy was tempered by Valdes'
injury that will keep him out of the World Cup for Spain.
Valdes
collapsed to the ground holding his right knee whilst making a routine save and
was in tears as he was stretchered from the field.
"Victor Valdes has ruptured the anterior
cruciate ligament in his right knee that will require surgery," the club
confirmed via its official Twitter account.
"It
is very bad luck and a very costly injury, too much for a game that means just
three points," Barca sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta told Barca TV.
And
midfielder Andres Iniesta admitted it was difficult for the Barca players to concentrate
on the game after the injury.
"It
was an uncomfortable situation on the pitch. The players weren't the same, the
fans weren't the same. Everything seemed a bit strange.
"The
important thing now is that he recovers well."
Neymar had already put the hosts in front
before Valdes' injury as he tapped home Alexis Sanchez's cross.
Lionel
Messi continued his fine run of form to make it 2-0 from a wonderful Iniesta
pass on the half hour before Neymar rounded off the scoring 23 minutes from
time.
It was a quieter evening at the Vicente
Calderon as Atletico continued to demonstrate their title credentials with a
hard-fought 1-0 win over Granada.In a game short on clear-cut chances, it was once again Diego Costa who made the difference for Diego Simeone's men as he headed home Jose Sosa's corner 27 minutes from time to register his 32nd goal of the season.
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