Athletic de Bilbao 1 - Valladolid 0

Athletic: Imanol; Larrainzar, Carlos García, Ferreira; Yeste, Urrutia, Alkiza, Felipe; Guerrero, Tiko, Joseba Etxeberria. 3-4-1-2.
Valladolid: César; Torres Gómez, Santamaría, García Calvo, Peña, Marcos; Jiménez, Lozano, Rodrigo; Alberto, Víctor. 5-3-2.

Team changes: Bilbao: Imanol and Joseba Etxeberria, Larrainzar, Ferreira, Yeste, Felipe for Lafuente, Larrazábal, Alkorta, Lacruz, Edu Alonso, Urzaiz / Valladolid: Jiménez for Caminero.

Goals:
1-0. 18. Carlos García. Header following a corner.

Bilbao finally ended Valladolid's run of seven matches without defeat with a single goal victory in a cold San Mames stadium. A week earlier Bilbao's own run of ten undefeated matches was ended by Betis, and Luis Fernández made six changes from that side, with both Etxeberria's returning from a bout of flu, and Alkorta out through injury. The manager also brought in two youngsters from the B side, with Yeste (a world champion with the Spanish under 20 side) starting the match in midfield, and Del Horno joining the substitutes. Manzano brought in new signing Jiménez in midfield in place of the injured Caminero, but opted to keep his striking trio up front, Rodrigo, Alberto and Víctor, with his latest new signing Shoji Jo still on the bench. Once again Jo was followed by a host of reporters and fans, and the match was shown live on Japanese state television. Shortly after García's goal Valladolid were reduced to ten men, with Rodrigo committing a senseless hand ball only a few minutes after his first booking for a foul. Referee López Nieto produced the red card, and for the second time this season the Brazilian on loan from Real Madrid was sent off in a match against Bilbao. With ten men Valladolid were up against it, and even the introduction of veteran midfield general Eusebio for the injured Santamaria just before half time could make no difference. In fact Valladolid's only real goal chance of the game came from Shoji Jo, who came on for the last twenty minutes, from a header, and with Rodrigo suspended for the next game, Manzano may give him a chance. Athletic move back up to fifth place, three points behind Zaragoza and Celta, with Valladolid falling back to within one point of the relegation places.

Málaga 0 - Alavés 1

Málaga: Contreras; Ruano, Bravo, Larrainzar, Valcarce; Rufete, De los Santos, Movilla, Agostinho; Darío Silva, Edgar. 4-4-2.
Alavés: Herrera; Morales, Téllez, Karmona, Torres Mestre; Pablo, Desio, Azkoitia; Magno, Nan Ribera; Kodro. 4-3-2-1.

Team changes: Málaga: Ruano, Darío Silva for Rojas, Catanha / Alavés: Pablo, Kodro for Contra, Salinas.

Goals:
0-1. 03. Azkoitia with a powerful first time shot from 25 metres.

Two of the revelation teams of the season met in Málaga with the prize for the winner a place in the top six in the league. Along with Numancia and Rayo Vallecano, these two teams were considered relegation candidates at the start of the season, but so far at least they are all in the top half of the table. The difference between the two teams in the end was the Alavés goalkeeper Herrera, who saved a penalty in the twentieth minute from Movilla after Morales, covering for the suspended Contra, fouled Agostinho. Herrera was superb throughout the match, making several saves for an Alavés side who have not lost away from home since the first week in November. True, Málaga's star striker Catanha was suspended, and his replacement Darío Silva was not in the same class, and the Uruguayan was booed by his fans towards the end for missing a couple of chances. Catanha's normal strike partner Edgar was also off form, and Peiró decided to replace both him and Movilla with Luque and Sandro at half time. Alavés went in front in the third minute with a thunderbolt shot from 25 metres by Azkoitia, his first for the club (one of those that goes in one out of a hundred times), and they could have extended their lead, with Larrainzar clearing off the line from Magno with Contreras beaten, and a shot from Gañan (who came on when Magno was stretchered off) hitting both posts before bouncing clear. But it was Herrera who kept them in front, with saves from Agostinho, De los Santos and Luque amongst others. Peiró's last throw of the dice was to bring on Genilson, a Brazilian recommended by Rivaldo, but it was too late to do anything. Alavés, who copied Irureta's ten-pin bowling line up from last week's match, move up to the UEFA cup spots, leaving Málaga, who have not won at home now for two months, dropping down to 11th.