Toothless Barca fire derby blanks to give Real title hope
Monday, 19 April 2010
MADRID, Apr 18 (AFP): Champions Barcelona let Real Madrid firmly back into La Liga title race following a 0-0 draw at neighbours Espanyol on Saturday meaning Madrid can move to within one point of their rivals with a home win over Valencia on Sunday.
Barca had Brazilian full back Dani Alves sent off on the hour mark and the treble winners failed to score in the league for the first time in six months and Real can now chop their four-point lead down to just one point.
It was the first derby at Espanyol's Cornella El-Prat Stadium and a bad one for Barcelona who saw a run of seven straight wins come to an end as they failed to find the back of the net in La Liga for the first time since a 0-0 draw at Valencia on October 17.
Barca had Brazilian full back Dani Alves sent off on the hour mark and the treble winners failed to score in the league for the first time in six months and Real can now chop their four-point lead down to just one point.
It was the first derby at Espanyol's Cornella El-Prat Stadium and a bad one for Barcelona who saw a run of seven straight wins come to an end as they failed to find the back of the net in La Liga for the first time since a 0-0 draw at Valencia on October 17.