Alavés 2 - Atlético de Madrid 0

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Karmona, Téllez, Torres Mestre; Astudillo, Pablo, Desio, Ibon Begoña; Magno, Kodro. 4-4-2.
Atlético: Molina; Gaspar, Santi, Gamarra, Capdevila; Aguilera, Bjebl, Roberto, Solari; Valerón; Kiko. 4-4-1-1.

Team changes: Alavés: Astudillo, Magno for Nan Ribera, Azkoitia / Atlético: Gaspar, Bjebl, Aguilera, Roberto for Ayala, Baraja, Hugo Leal, Hasselbaink.

Goals:
1-0. 82. Magno. Scrambled goal after good work from Javi Moreno
2-0. 85. Bjebl (own goal). Deflected off upper leg with Karmona pressuring.

Alavés moved up to their highest ever position in the league with two late goals against Atlético, and now occupy one of the Champions league spots. 'Pulpo' Astudillo returned to Mané's side after ten weeks on the sidelines with a knee injury, and the local manager decided to bring in Magno to join Kodro up front in a more attacking line up. Ranieri was forced to make four changes, with Ayala, Baraja and Hasselbaink all suspended and Hugo Leal injured, and Valerón played once again in the hole behind Kiko. There was a minute's silence before the game in honour of Fernando Bueno, the Socialist politician who was killed by ETA midweek. Bueno was a regular Alavés supporter, and in a touching tribute his seat in the directors' box was occupied by a red rose. Alavés did most of the attacking in the first half, with Molina saving on a couple of occasions from Kodro. At half time Mané brought on Javi Moreno, and he provided the key to unlock the Atlético defence. His shot from the left was partially blocked by Molina, and after another substitute Julio Salinas stuck in a foot, the ball rolled loose to Magno for him to score into an empty net. Three minutes later it was two, with Bjebl the unlucky man as a cross from the right into a crowded goalmouth hit him on the leg and deflected into the net. Alavés keeper Herrera kept another clean sheet, and is now top of the 'Zamorra' goalkeeping table. Their tight defence is the secret of their success, and they have only let in 27 goals in 26 games, the best in the league together with Valencia. The defeat leaves Atlético struggling only one point and one place above the drop zone, and paradoxically after the legal administrator stated that they would not be relegated in the Spanish courts, they may be on the playing field. The continuing court case is obviously taking its toll on the players, and Ranieri held a pep talk during the week, clearing the air about his non appearance at the press conference last week. The manager had to leave quickly to go to Italy as his wife was being operated on, and not to visit a possible future employer as reported in some journals. Meanwhile several clubs are lining up to take legal action if the court case goes against Atlético, including representatives of Burgos who were relegated from the first division in 1993 and disappeared after dropping out of the second division.

Betis 1 - Sevilla 1

Betis: Prats; Crosa, Bornes, Vidakovic, Luis Fernández; Merino, Karhan, Finidi; Alfonso, Oli, Denilson. 4-3-3.
Sevilla: Olsen; Marchena, Hibic, Prieto; Héctor, Quevedo, Angel, Nando; Tsartas; Juan Carlos, Zalayeta. 3-4-1-2.

Team changes: Betis: Luis Fernández, Finidi for Filipescu, Ito / Sevilla: Héctor for Víctor.

Goals:
1-0. 03. Denilson (penalty). After Angel pulled back Karhan in penalty area.
1-1. 75. Tsartas (penalty). Dubious foul by Bornes on Zalayeta.

The local Sevilla derby was played in Betis's Ruiz de Lopera stadium under a cloud of controversy, with crowd violence the inevitable outcome of the aggressive stances adopted by both clubs. The match was of vital importance to both, with Sevilla firmly ensconced at the bottom of the table and Betis only three points above the drop zone, and a defeat for either would move them further into trouble. Guus Hiddink,the new manager of Betis, had doubts as to which of his five foreigners he would leave out of the starting line up, and in the end the finger pointed at Filipescu, with Finidi coming in to an unfamiliar position in midfield. Sevilla manager Marcos Alonso opted for a virtually unchanged side, bringing Héctor at wing back and leaving out young forward Víctor. Within three minutes the home side were in front, with Angel naively holding back Karhan in the penalty area. Although Finidi normally takes the penalties, Denilson stepped up for this one and drove it past Olsen. Halfway through the half Sevilla lost Juan Carlos after a clash of heads with Karhan, the striker being carried off concussed with a bad gash over his left eye. Olivera came on for his first appearance in 14 games, and a few minutes later Alonso was forced to make another change, Jesuli coming on for the limping Nando. Sevilla levelled the scores in the second half, referee García Aranda awarding his second penalty of the night for a push by Bornes on Zalayeta, the Uruguayan striker falling rather easily in the penalty area. Tsartas tucked the spot kick away, his ninth goal of the season. Filipescu came on near the end for Betis amongst confusion as to whether he should be on the park as the fifth non EU player playing during the match, and Gálvez for the home side and Moya for the visitors also appeared late in the half. In the end the draw didn't favour anyone, with Sevilla now having gone ten years without an away victory in this fixture. Betis drop to sixteenth, level with Espanyol and Valladolid, and Sevilla pull back a point on next to bottom club Oviedo who are now five points above them. A big gap, but two or three wins on the trot could still move them closer to safety.