Two-goal Giuly guides Barca towards title as Nedved magic lifts Juve

TWO goals from Ludovic Giuly and one apiece for Oleguer and Gerard gave Barcelona a 4-0 win over Malaga last night and moved them a step closer to their first La Liga title in six years.

With five games left, Barcelona are six points clear of Real Madrid who beat Villarreal 2-1 on Saturday.

Sevilla went into third after a 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao last night.

Oleguer fired in from close range to put the visitors ahead after 21 minutes and Giuly headed a second in the 33rd. The French midfielder made it 3-0 midway through the second half and Gerard headed the fourth in the final minute.

Espanyol moved up into the Champions League places after beating Real Zaragoza 3-1 to go third, while Valencia climbed up to fifth with a 2-0 win over relegation-threatened Albacete.

Real Betis and Deportivo Coruna both suffered setbacks in their European ambitions, Betis falling 3-2 to Real Sociedad, while Depor were hammered 4-1 by Racing Santander.

Real, who finished with nine men following the dismissals of Zinedine Zidane and Walter Samuel, fought back from a goal down to beat Villarreal.

Juan Roman Riquelme put Villarreal in front from the penalty spot before the break but Ronaldo headed the equaliser on 70 minutes before turning provider for defender Michel Salgado to fire the winner four minutes later.

In Serie A, Juventus last night drew level with champions AC Milan at the top of the table - but only just.

An incredible solo effort by Pavel Nedved five minutes from time gave Juve a 1-0 win at Lazio. AC defeated Parma 3-0 at the San Siro on Saturday with goals from Kaka, Jon Dahl Tomasson and Marcos Cafu.

Serie A dark horses Sampdoria maintained their push for a Champions League place with a 2-1 home victory over Roma yesterday.

Max Tonetto gave Sampdoria a 33rd minute lead with a crisp close-range finish before Francesco Flachi coolly slotted a second-half penalty.

Vincenzo Montella ensured a nail-biting finale by scoring a stoppage-time penalty for the visitors, but the hosts held on.

Inter Milan went down to a shock 2-1 defeat at Messina, only their second loss of the season. Yet they remain third, four points clear of Sampdoria.

Bayern Munich closed to within touching distance of a 19th Bundesliga crown with a 3-1 win over Bochum, as Schalke’s challenge petered out with a 4-1 defeat at Hertha Berlin.

Bayern’s victory, courtesy of goals from Claudio Pizarro, Michael Ballack and Roy Makaay and an early red card for Bochum keeper Rein van Duijnhoven, stretched their lead at the top to nine points with four games left.

PSV Eindhoven cruised to a 3-0 win over Vitesse Arnhem to seal their 18th Dutch title. Park Ji-sung, Mark van Bommel and Gerald Sibon were on target.