Valencia beat Celta 1-0 with another second half goal by Carew to keep their lead at the top of the first division at the end of day 8. They stay two points ahead of Deportivo La Coruña, who thrashed Las Palmas the day before by 4-0. Diego Tristán silenced his critics by scoring the first three of their goals, and Makaay came on as substitute to score the fourth. Real Madrid suffered the same fate as Barcelona a few days ago, losing 0-2 to Mallorca. Ibagaza and Carlos got the goals. With the other teams below them losing Madrid are still third, now three points behind Depor and level with Alavés, who also lost against Basque rivals Real Sociedad by 0-1. Barcelona move up to fifth despite another poor performance, drawing 1-1 with Numancia. Rivaldo scored the first from a penalty, but Rubén Navarro equalised right at the end. Serra Ferrer made five changes, dropping keeper Dutruel and acting captain Sergi. The three bottom clubs all won, with Zaragoza getting their first win of the season, 1-2 at Bilbao, and Racing Santander beating Villarreal 3-1. That meant that Osasuna drop to last place after they lost 3-1 to Málaga. Rayo Vallecano drop out of the top six after losing 4-1 to Oviedo, and Valladolid got their sixth draw of the season, this time 1-1 with Espanyol. (1.11.00)

Seven teams are within a point of each other at the top of the second division, with Tenerife beating Badajoz 3-0 and taking advantage of poor results to end the Andalucian clubs reign at the top. They lead the table on goal average ahead of Córdoba, who lost in the last minute to Elche, and Sevilla, who could only draw against ten man Recreativo. Levante, Murcia, Jaén and Albacete are all a point behind the leaders, with Betis a point behind them. Atlético Madrid went from bad to worse, losing to bottom club Universidad Las Palmas. The 2-1 result was Universidad's first win ever in the second division A. (1.11.00)