La Liga Saturday: Real Madrid stage stunning fightback to go top

Real Madrid 3 - 2 Sevilla
(0-1) 9' Xabi Alonso (o.g), (0-2) 52' Dragutinovic, (1-2) 59' Cristiano Ronaldo, (2-2) 61' Ramos, (3-2) 92' Van der Vaart

An absolutely breathtaking match at the Bernabeu. It had looked like such an anti-climax for Real Madrid as they looked to capitalise on Barcelonas slip in Almeria, when Xabi Alonso smashed the ball into his own net, under pressure from Negredo. The first half was a familiar story for Madrid, as they enjoyed plenty of possession, but with Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka both kept quiet, they lacked potency upfront. Just after halftime, Dragutinovic floated in a free-kick from near the half-way line, and with Iker Casillas late to react, the ball curled agonisingly inside the post, to hand Sevilla a two goal lead. Manuel Pelligrini then sent on Guti and Van der Vaart and the two subs revolutionised the match. Guti was in one of his sublime moods, as he pulled out some stunning passes, and Madrid looked a totally different side with the veteran pulling the strings in the middle. There was a touch of fortune about Reals first as Ronaldo swept home a deflected cross, with their second courtesy of a Sergio Ramos header from a corner. It was then one way traffic, with Higuain hitting the woodwork on countless occasions, before Rafael Van der Vaart sent the Bernabeu delirious with a last gasp winner. Real return to the summit after months chasing Barca. A pivotal weekend in La Liga 2009/2010?


Almeria 2 - 2 Barcelona
(1-0) 12' Cisma, (1-1) 42' Messi, (2-1) 57' Puyol (o.g), (2-2) 66' Messi

An out of sorts Barcelona were saved by a sparkling display from Lionel Messi, as they fought back twice to save a vital point from their trip to Almeria. Neither side was helped by a substandard performance from referee Clos Gomez, who sent off both Pep Guardiola and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and signalled a non-existant foul which lead to Messi drawing Barca level after Cisma had put Almeria ahead. Carlos Puyol also had an off-night, which culminated in converting a cross into his own net, but once Barca were down to ten, they stepped it up a level. Leo Messi got them level once more, with only a string of impressive saves from Diego Alves stopping Barca from going on to win the match. Still, it was two points dropped by Barcelona, who see themselves drop down to second after Real Madrids stunning fightback against Sevilla.


Deportivo La Coruña 3 - 1 Tenerife
(0-1) 17' Juanlu, (1-1) 32' Juan Rodriguez, (2-1) 55' Guardado, (3-1) 66' Colotto