Valencia 3 - Barcelona 1

Valencia: Palop; Angloma, Djukic, Pellegrino, Fagiani; Farinós, Mendieta, Kily González; Gerard; Claudio López, Ilie. 4-3-1-2.
Barcelona: Hesp; Reiziger, Frank de Boer, Sergi; Ronald de Boer, Guardiola, Cocu, Zenden; Figo, Kluivert, Luis Enrique. 3-4-3.

Barcelona lost their third league game in a row, plunging the club into another 'November crisis'. Injuries to Rivaldo, Abelardo and Bogarde meant that Van Gaal was forced to change around his team. Hesp returned in goal in place of Arnau, with Kluivert returning from a four match suspension in attack. Fagiani returned to Valencia's defence together with Angloma. However the Argentinian didn't complete the match, being sent off by Pérez Lasa for a second bookable offence fifteen minutes from time. Barcelona substitute Dani also got his marching orders in the last minute for a foul on Palop which the Valencia keeper exaggerated. Piojo López once again proved Hesp's nightmare, scoring his eleventh goal in 12 games against the Catalan side. His goal on the half hour was followed by a second by Ilie five minutes later from a pass from Mendieta. Zenden pulled one back just before half time with his first league goal for the club, and Ronald de Boer almost levelled the scores in the second half with a spectacular scissors kick from which Palop produced an equally spectacular save. With Barcelona pushing all their players forward, Gerard scored Valencia's third two minutes from time from a breakaway. The victory moved Valencia out of the relegation zone into mid-table, relieving the pressure on Héctor Cúper. Both teams play important Champions League games midweek.

Real Madrid 1 - Real Sociedad 1

Real Madrid: Bizzarri; Salgado, Karembeu, Julio César, Roberto Carlos; Seedorf, Helguera, Guti, Savio; Anelka, Raúl. 4-4-2.
Real Sociedad: Alberto; López Rekarte, Loren, Antía, Pikabea, Aranzábal; Mutiu, Gómez, De Pedro, De Paula; Sa Pinto. 5-4-1.

Long time Real Madrid employee Vicente Del Bosque returned as caretaker manager of the first team for the third time in his career after John Toshack was fired midweek. Toshack was already on the short cord, and Real Madrid's president Lorenzo Sanz fired him after he refused to withdraw criticisms of his players, in particular his goalkeeper Bizarri. The situation came to a head when he told a reporter from El Marca daily sports paper that pigs would fly over Madrid's Bernabeu stadium before he repented. Some commentators believed that Toshack forced the showdown, committing professional suicide after a string of bad results. As a sweetener, his leaving package was reported to be worth 500 million pesetas. Del Bosque changed Toshack's game plan to a 4-4-2 formation, with the four in midfield forming a diamond with Helguera at the back and Guti forward, with Seedorf and Savio, back from injury, out wide. Karembeu was brought in to the centre of defence, and Anelka joined Raúl up front with Morientes suspended for two matches. Real Sociedad's new manager Javier Clemente left Colombia's Bonilla on the bench, (he was another who played in South America midweek), and kept Sa Pinto up front. Clemente was booed every time he came out of the trainer's box after reviving an ongoing slanging match with Lorenzo Sanz. Real Madrid did most of the attacking in the first half, and their efforts were rewarded early in the second half when Savio shot past Alberto after Seedorf had dribbled through the Real Sociedad defence on the right. Their joy only lasted eleven minutes however, Pikabea getting his head and/or shoulder to a corner to beat Bizarri. This was Madrid's seventh draw in 12 games, and they are currently eighth. Real Sociedad are only one point from the relegation zone, in eighteenth place.