Beckham sent off as Real crash again to bottom side Murcia

REAL MADRID midfielder David Beckham was sent off in the 36th minute of his side's Primera Liga match against bottom club Murcia last night for insulting a linesman.

It means the England captain's first season in Spain ends on a low note as he will miss the final game at home to Real Sociedad next week. Television replays clearly showed Beckham turning towards the linesman and shouting an insult at him in Spanish after his side went 2-0 down when Murcia forward Luis Garcia scored from the penalty spot.

Guti scored a late consolation goal for Real who slipped to their third consecutive defeat.

Rivals Barcelona moved into second place in La Liga following a 1-0 victory over Racing Santander and Real Madrid's collapse. Brazilian star Ronaldinho converted a penalty after 15 minutes. Espanyol missed a chance to ensure their Primera Liga survival when they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at Real Mallorca yesterday

The result means Celta Vigo and Valladolid, who both lost on Saturday, have been thrown a lifeline and may yet avoid the drop if results go their way in the final round of matches next week.

At the other end of the table, Athletic Bilbao took a major step towards clinching a UEFA Cup place with a 2-1 win at Osasuna that allowed them to regain fifth place.

AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini has ended talk of a return to the Italy side at Euro 2004.

Maldini, Italy's most capped player with 126 appearances, retired from international football after the 2002 World Cup finals but his performances this season in Milan's title triumph prompted 'Azzurri' coach Giovanni Trapattoni to ask him to reconsider.

"There won't be any European championship for me," Maldini said yesterday "I have spoken to Trapattoni recently and I explained to him the reasons for my choice and he understood my motives," added Maldini who celebrated his seventh 'scudetto' with Milan at the San Siro with a 4-2 victory over Brescia.

Inter Milan claimed fourth place in Serie A and a place in the qualifying round for next season's Champions League with a 3-2 win at Empoli yesterday. Inter's victory, with two goals from Brazilian Adriano, sent Empoli down into Serie B along with Modena, who lost 2-1 to Lazio on the final day of the Serie A season.

Perugia's 1-0 win over already relegated Ancona gives them a chance of survival via a play-off with the eventual sixth placed team in Serie B. Parma had to settle for fifth and a spot in the UEFA Cup despite a 4-3 win over Udinese with the outstanding Alberto Gilardino scoring all four goals.

Perugia looked doomed a month ago but wins against Roma and Juventus gave them a chance on the final day and they took it with a 1-0 win over Ancona that will give them hope until a play-off.

English forward Jay Bothroyd grabbed the winner with a shot that beat Magnus Hedman at the near post.

At the San Siro as Milan celebrated their 17th title in style. There was generous applause for former player Baggio, who now plans to retire, but Carlo Ancelotti's side delivered a reminder of why they have won the title by 11 points. Two goals from Dane Jon Dahl Tomasson both created by the outstanding Brazilian Kaka, Andriy Shevchenko's 24th goal of the season and a Rui Costa effort ensured a winning end to the season for Milan despite two well-taken goals from Brescia's Matuzalem.