Madrid go under again as Barca stretch lead

REAL MADRID slumped to a 2-1 defeat at lowly Getafe as the 29-times Spanish champions fell 11 points behind league leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona in the race for the title.

After winning seven straight games following the arrival of Wanderley Luxemburgo as coach, Madrid have now won only once in their last five league outings.

Raul Albiol opened the scoring for Getafe six minutes before the break, after being on hand to make the most of a dreadful sliced clearance by Real’s Spanish international Ivan Helguera.

Adding to the fairytale of Getafe’s first league visit from the Spanish giants, their second goal came from Riki Sanchez four minutes after the break.

Santiago Solari scored a consolation goal for Real with a stunning left foot shot a minute from the whistle.

Barcelona restored some pride after their own exit from the Champions League by cruising to a 2-0 win over Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, thanks to goals from Deco and Ludovic Giuly.

Diego Forlan continued his renaissance as he got his 17th goal of the season in Villarreal’s 4-1 win over Espanyol earlier yesterday.

The emphatic victory moved Villarreal up to third.

Forlan opened the scoring for Villarreal, blasting a loose ball past Espanyol keeper Carlos Kameni after 25 minutes. Albert Lopo equalised for Espanyol four minutes later but Juan Pablo Sorin headed Villarreal back in front just after the break.

Juan Roman Riquelme then put Villarreal firmly in the driving seat after 56 minutes, the Spanish first division’s most prolific penalty taker getting his sixth this season from the spot after Kameni had brought down Forlan.

Lucho Figueroa completed Villarreal’s scoring spree eight minutes from time.

Espanyol slipped to fifth but were spared sliding further when Sevilla surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Real Zaragoza.

Last night Atlético Madrid defeated Valencia 1-0.

At the other end of the table, the bottom three clubs all lost.

Fabrizio Coloccini got his first goal for Deportivo La Coruna for a 1-0 win at Albacete. Mallorca lost 3-0 at Racing Santander while Numancia succumbed to a late winner from Real Sociedad’s Jose Barkero as they went down 2-1 in San Sebastian.

In Italy, AC Milan defeated Sampdoria 1-0 yesterday for their seventh consecutive league victory.

Brazilian midfielder Kaka scored the winner for the champions, escaping his marker to head home Andrea Pirlo’s pinpoint cross in the 65th minute.

Milan now share top spot in Serie A with Juventus who defeated Chievo 1-0 thanks to a late Olivera strike.

Udinese improved their chances of claiming a Champions League place next season by snatching fifth place from Palermo with a 5-1 win over the Sicilians whileCagliari boosted their hopes of claiming a UEFA Cup place by beating Roma 3-0.

Former Chelsea striker Gianfranco Zola opened the scoring with a 25-yard drive before Mauro Esposito and David Suazo wrapped up a comfortable home victory.

In other matches, bottom club Atalanta edged fellow strugglers Parma 1-0, Bologna drew 1-1 with Siena, Livorno beat relegation-threatened Brescia 3-2 and Messina won 2-1 at local rivals Reggina.

On Saturday, Inter Milan were held to a 1-1 draw against Lazio despite playing the final 35 minutes with an extra man.

Schalke 04 underlined their title credentials with a 1-0 home win over title rivals Bayern Munich to establish a three-point lead at the Bundesliga summit.

Brazilian midfielder Lincoln scored the all-important goal after 69 minutes curling a delicious free-kick past Munich keeper Oliver Kahn to settle an evenly-contested duel at the Arena Auf Schalke.

Ten-man VfB Stuttgart climbed up to third with a 2-0 win at Borussia Dortmund.

Dutch leaders PSV Eindhoven cruised to a 4-0 win over ADO Den Haag while second-placed AZ Alkmaar overcame lowly Graafschap Doetinchem 3-2.

Ajax Amsterdam are third on 53 after a 1-0 win at NEC Nijmegen, while Feyenoord beat Roda JC Kerkrade 4-1 to remain fourth.