Five-star Sevilla go fourth with Racing rout

Kings Cup finalists Sevilla moved back into the top four with a thumping 5-1 win at struggling Racing Santander on Wednesday to heap the pressure on rivals Real Mallorca who are a point behind in fifth and host title contenders Real Madrid in Wednesday’s late match.

Spanish international Alvaro Negredo put Sevilla ahead after just two minutes and Mali forward Freddy Kanoute converted a penalty on 21 minutes following a foul on Diego Capel.

Sevilla then scored twice inside the first three minutes of the second half with Jesus Navas (46 min) and Capel (48) putting Racing to the sword. Negredo scored his second on 88 minutes to complete the scoring and shatter Racing’s already brittle confidence.

Sevilla now occupy the final Champions League qualifying spot with two games left although their next match is at home to champions Barcelona in a crucial match for both sides.

Racing hover just one point above the relegation zone and have to sweat it out in the final two games of the season.

Athletic Bilbao failed to take advantage of slips from Villarreal and Getafe following a 1-1 draw against Malaga on Wednesday.

Bilbao could have gone into the top six with a win but the draw leaves them a point behind Getafe who hold sixth and the final Europa League spot. Malaga have other concerns lying one point above the relegation zone with two games to play.

Promoted Real Zaragoza took a giant stride towards safety with a 1-0 win over Espanyol with Adrian Colunga’s penalty on 78 minutes sealing a crucial win for Zaragoza who move five points clear of the drop zone.

Elsewhere Valladolid coach Javier Clemente tasted his first defeat since taking charge losing 3-1 at Atletico Madrid to leave his club second from bottom three points from safety.

Former Spain national coach Clemente had guided Valladolid to two wins and three draws in his five games at the helm but came unstuck against Atletico with goals from Juanito, Jose Jurado and an 18th goal of the season from Diego Forlan.

Atletico climb up to ninth but their focus is firmly on the Kings Cup and Europa league finals as they target a famous cup double.

Later on Wednesday Real have a crucial game at high-flying Real Mallorca knowing anything but victory would leave Barcelona, currently four points ahead, needing just one more win from the final two games to retain La Liga as they have the better head-to-head record.

“It has been an extraordinary season from both teams (Real and Barcelona) but the league can’t be shared,” said Real coach Manuel Pellegrini.

Real have won their last eight away matches with their last defeat on the road coming against Athletic Bilbao in mid-January.

Mallorca have been the surprise package this season and are challenging for the Champions League mainly due to their home record of 14 wins from 17 games at the Ono stadium.

Barcelona fulfilled their obligation with a 4-1 home win over Tenerife on Tuesday and their tally of 93 points is the most any team has chalked up in a league of 20 or 22 teams and there are still two games to play.

“Of course we want to win the league but I can’t ask any more of this team,” said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola. “We have 93 points and I am really proud of the players as we have been competing since August and there have been so many matches.”