Barca’s title hopes take another dent at Osasuna

Published on Monday 13 February 2012 02:16

BARCELONA’S hopes of retaining their La Liga title were dealt another blow on Saturday night when they lost 3-2 at Osasuna.

Two first-half goals from Dejan Lekic put Osasuna in the driving seat before Alexis Sanchez pulled one back for Barca five minutes after the restart. But Osasuna quickly restored a two-goal cushion when Raul Garcia netted in the 56th minute. Substitute Cristian Tello scored Barca’s second in the 73rd minute but they couldn’t manufacture an equalizer.

Real Madrid had the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table to 10 points when they faced Levante late last night.

In Italy, the pressure mounted further on Inter Milan coach Claudio Ranieri yesterday following their 1-0 loss at home to rock-bottom Novara. The Nerazzurri have now lost three of their last four games, a run which has all but ended their Serie A title hopes and also places a serious question mark against their chances of qualifying for the Champions League. Andrea Caracciolo scored the only goal of the game in the 56th minute as Novara completed the double over Inter this season.

They even held onto the win after Ivan Radovanovic was sent off with 10 minutes to go. Inter owner Massimo Moratti was forced to issue a statement on Thursday denying the club were considering dismissing Ranieri and replacing him with former England manager Fabio Capello.

But this setback leaves Ranieri’s side fifth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Udinese and 11 adrift of leaders AC Milan. Pablo Barrientos scored twice as Catania claimed their first win of 2012 in style with a 4-0 thrashing of Genoa.

The visitors went into the game on the back of two straight wins but found themselves a goal down after just seven minutes through Francesco Lodi’s penalty. Barrientos then netted a quickfire double in the 49th and 52nd minutes, before Gonzalo Bergessio rounded off the scoring ten minutes later.

Atalanta hit the post twice but their problems in front of goal continued as they were held to a goalless draw by Lecce. The Bergamaschi were the better side at the Stadio Atleti Azzurri d’Italia but could not find a way past Lecce goalkeeper Julio Sergio, although both Guido Marilungo and Federico Peluso struck the woodwork. The result left Atalanta in 15th place, six points clear of third-bottom Lecce.

The matches between Bologna and second-placed Juventus and Parma and Fiorentina were postponed due to bad weather.

Paolo Guerrero grabbed a late winner as Hamburg pulled further clear of relegation trouble with a 1-0 victory at Cologne today. Augsburg and Nurnberg played out a goalless draw in a Bavarian derby – a result which hardly helps either side in their respective battles against the drop. The fear of losing appeared to outweigh the ambition of winning as both sides settled for a point in a cagey encounter, despite a late flurry of chances.

Augsburg remain inside the bottom two while Nurnberg managed to pull a point further clear of Hertha Berlin, but the relegation zone lurks just four points below them. Former Germany captain Michael Ballack has been ruled out of Bayer Leverkusen’s Champions League last-16 tie at home to Barcelona tomorrow with a calf strain.

Logged in as:

Comment here. Start typing your comment here:

Post comment

Please adhere to our Community guidelines

Your view

Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.