Barcelona settles for share of first
Barcelona, Spain (Sports Network) - Barcelona settled for one point and a share of the top spot in the Spanish La Liga after Real Betis scored in the 89th minute to force a 1-1 tie Sunday.
Ronaldinho scored his 18th goal of the season on a penalty kick five minutes into the match for Barcelona and the lead held for 84 minutes. Real Betis denied Barcelona the win and the outright lead in the standings when Rafael Sobis equalized in the final minutes.
Barcelona and Real Madrid both have 66 points with four weeks left in the season. Real Madrid holds the tiebreaker because of its better head-to-head record vs. Barcelona. Real Madrid moved atop the standings Saturday following a dramatic 4-3 win over Espanyol.
Valencia also remained in contention for the league title with a crucial 2-0 win over Real Zaragoza in a battle of top-five squads Sunday. Emiliano Moretti and David Silva scored for Valencia, which is just four points behind the co- leaders in fourth place. Sevilla, which won Saturday, is in third place with 64 points.
In Sunday's other action: Athletic Bilbao tied Deportivo, 1-1; Levante defeated Celta Vigo, 2-1; Atletico Madrid defeated Getafe, 4-1; Real Sociedad defeated Gimnastic, 3-1; Villarreal defeated Osasuna, 4-1; and Mallorca defeated Racing, 2-0.
