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Real's Title Hopes Hit By Draw, As Barca Wins

Published

10 years ago

May 10, 2015

Real Madrid’s hopes of overhauling La Liga leaders Barcelona suffered a stinging blow when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home to Valencia on Saturday to slip four points behind their arch rivals with two games left.
Fourth-placed Valencia raced into a surprise 2-0 lead at the Bernabeu through goals from Paco Alcacer and Javi Fuego before Real forward Cristiano Ronaldo had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Diego Alves on the stroke of halftime.
Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Javier Hernandez had earlier struck efforts against the frame of the goal and Real’s Germany midfielder Toni Kroos had to be replaced by Asier Illarramendi because of a suspected muscle injury.
Pepe pulled a goal back for Real with a header from a corner 11 minutes into the second half and Isco levelled with a superb curling shot six minutes from time but Valencia held on in an action-packed finale.
It was Real’s second consecutive game without a win after the holders went down 2-1 at Juventus in Tuesday’s Champions League semifinal, first leg, with the return to come at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
Barca have 90 points after they won 2-0 at home to Real Sociedad earlier on Saturday, with Real on 86 and champions Atletico Madrid 10 points further adrift in third ahead of their game at Levante on Sunday.