Celta 2 - Racing Santander 0

Celta: Pinto; Celades, Cáceres, Djorovic, Sergio, Juanfran; Giovanella, Makelele; Karpin, Mostovoi, Gustavo López; McCarthy. 4-2-3-1.
Racing: Ceballos; Tais, Mellberg, Arzeno, Sietes; Espina, Colsa; Manjarín, Munitis, Amavisca; Salva. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Celta: Makelele, Karpin for Djorovic, Revivo / Racing:Tais, Vivar Dorado for Neru, Munitis.

Goals:
1-0. 37. McCarthy. Header after move involving Celades, Mostovoi and Karpin.
2-0. 60. Mostovoi. Following pass inside from fellow Russian Karpin.

Celta kept up the pressure on the leaders with a comfortable win against a Racing side who have shown good away form this season. After two defeats on the trot in the league and one against Juventus in the UEFA cup, the victory came as a welcome relief to Víctor Fernández's side. They now move back to within sight of the European spots, in seventh place behind sixth place Valencia only on goal average. Fernández only made a couple of changes from the team that playedlast week, replacing Revivo with Karpin, now recovered from a knock, and bringing back Makele. Celades played at right back, a position he occupied against Juventus midweek. Racing were without the suspended Neru and Munitis, but had Vivar Dorado back from his one game suspension. They came in to the game with some confidence, having only lost one of the last ten matches against the Gallician side, and with Salva's hat-trick in the earlier match in Santander still fresh in their minds. However this was a better Celta side, and Salva has been off form recently since forcing his way into the national squad. The absence of Munitis was also influential, as Racing failed to create any real danger, except for a header by Salva which Giovanella cleared off the line ten minutes before half time. Immediately after that the play switched to the other end, and McCarthy opened the scoring with a well directed header across Ceballos after a cross from Karpin. The Russian was a constant threat together with his fellow countryman Mostovoi, and he hit the post with a shot early in the second half. Rushfeldt came on for Manjarín for the visitors and he missed an easy header which would have levelled the scores. A few minutes later however the two Russians once again combined to score the second goal for the home side, with Karpin taking the ball to the goal line on the left before pulling it back for Mostovoi to finish it off. Fernández knew it was over, and rested Mostovoi, McCarthy and Gustavo López, bringing on Tomás, Hoogendorp and Vivas. Benítez didn't give up though, bringing on a third forward, Bestchastnykh for Tais fifteen minutes from the end. But this time the three points were for the home side, and Racing's brief run of seven points in three games has come to an end. They are now 14th, still only two points away from 18th placed Atlético Madrid, and are another side fighting for survival in this closest of all European leagues.

Atlético de Madrid 0 - Betis 0

Atlético: Molina; Aguilera, Santi, Gamarra, Capdevila; Paunovic, Bjebl, Baraja; Valerón; Kiko, Hasselbaink. 4-3-1-2.
Betis: Prats; Crosa, Filipescu, Vidakovic, Luis Fernández; Merino, Romero, Alex, Denilson; Cuéllar, Alfonso. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Atlético: Paunovic, Baraja, Hasselbaink for Gaspar, Roberto, Solari / Betis; Filipescu, Alex, Romero, Cuéllar for Bornes, Karhan, Finidi, Oli.

Goals: None.

Radomir Antic took charge of Atlético Madrid for the third time in his career on Friday after their legal administrator Luis Rubí effectively forced Claudio Ranieri to resign. Everything blew up before the Thursday UEFA cup match with Lens, when Rubí threatened Ranieri with losing his job if he didn't win on Saturday against Betis. Ranieri, who has been very demotivated recently and has been talking openly about leaving at the end of the season, decided that enough was enough, and after talking to ex managing director Miguel Angel Gil he handed in his resignation. Antic, who was fired by Gil's father Jesus in the gents' lavatory of the changing rooms immediately after losing last season's cup final to Ranieri's Valencia, took over with immediate effect. The situation is even more complicated than it looks, as Antic is still owed 90 million Pesetas severance pay by the administrator and has recently put in a legal demand for the money. However Antic has a soft spot for the club, and may just be the only person who can get the side out of the depression mode and clear of the relegation zone. In his first team selection he brought back some of his favourites, with Paunovic coming straight in to the starting line up, and Correa and Lardín coming on as substitutes during the second half. Hasselbaink came back from a one match suspension, and Solari dropped out at the last minute with flu. Betis's new manager Guus Hiddink is still only just finding his feet himself, and he was forced to make several changes to his line up, with Bornes, Karhan and Oli all suspended and Finidi injured. The match itself was a disappointment for the 40,000 spectators who turned up to see the return of Antic (almost 2,000 turned up the day before for his first training session), as neither side risked anything. However they kept up the singing throughout the game to try to animate their side, who only showed any danger of scoring when the ball was at Hasselbaink's feet. Alfonso could have scored early on and Denilson had a couple of good runs, but in the end the goalkeepers won out and the points were shared. Betis just manage to keep their heads above water, holding on to 15th place, just two above the drop zone. Atlético go under for the first time, dropping to 18th, and Antic will have his work cut out in the next few days to turn things around. He needs to do so if the administrators are to attract new capital to the club, as any potential investor will obviously need the team to be in the first division. Right now plans are for the administrator to present his report to the judge within a month, and he is expected to recommend a capital increase to dilute the shareholding of the Gil family below 50%, with new shareholders who can take over the management of the club. Anyone interested?