On The Continent: Barcelona Fall Short Again

BARCALONA FALL SHORT AGAIN
A fortnight ago, the title race in Spain seemed to be getting exciting, with Barcelona recovering their old swagger and closing in on faltering Real Madrid, but the last two weekends have seen that plotline blown out of the water, probably taking Barca's title hopes with them. Last weekend's defeat to Atletico Madrid was damaging enough, but a 2-1 loss at home to third-placed Villarreal leaves Frank Rijkaard's team looking over their shoulders rather than at the heels of the league leaders.

Barca were without Lionel Messi through injury, and fell behind just after the half-hour mark to a Marcos Senna penalty after Victor Valdes had fouled Guillermo Franco. Xavi equalised in the second half and the home side piled forward in search of the winner they desperately needed, but when one came, it was for Villarreal, with Jon Dahl Tomasson scoring nine minutes from time.

Afterwards, Rijkaard admitted: "We fought hard for the win and even took risks as we tried to do what we could to make our fans happy. So much work to get no points, it is something we have to digest. It was a shame. I won't speak about individuals or any part of the team. When you don't score the first goal, everything is more difficult. What we failed to do was make the difference. There are still 33 points to play for. Of course the gap has widened, but that is no reason to give up."

As well as taking Villarreal to within four points of them, that result also meant that Real Madrid are now eight points clear after they beat Espanyol 2-1 on Saturday to bounce back from their Champions League exit.