Rayo Vallecano 1 - Valencia 3

Rayo: Lopetegui; Cota (Ferrón 80'), Amaya, Clotet, Alcázar; Estibariz (Michel II 46'), Poschner, Pablo Sanz, Llorens (Luis Cembranos 60'); Michel I; Bolo. 4-4-1-1.
Valencia: Cañizares; Anglomá, Djukic, Pellegrino, Carboni; Mendieta (Oscar 77'), Albelda, Gerard, Farinós (Gerardo 90'); Angulo; Juan Sánchez (Piojo López 70'). 4-4-1-1.

Team changes: Rayo: Clotet, Estibariz, Llorens for Hernández, Ferrón, Cembranos / Valencia: Carboni, Albelda, Sánchez for Björklund, Kily González, Piojo López.

Goals:
0-1. 13. Farinós. From left after through pass by Mendieta
0-2. 35. Mendieta. Dribbled through defence and shot from right.
0-3. 83. Oscar. Following cross from Piojo on right.
1-3. 86. Bolo. Header after free kick from Cembranos

Valencia's good form continued as they prepared for the upcoming Champions League tie with Barcelona by comfortably beating Rayo Vallecano. Having already assured a place in Europe next season by opening up a nine point gap over the seventh placed sides, they kept their options open on two fronts for an upgrade to the next edition of the Champions League by moving to within two points of joint third placed teams Zaragoza and Real Madrid. Morale is a funny thing and who knows what could happen if they were to lose in Tuesday's semi-final, but if they maintain this form they could well overtake either of the teams above them and sneak fourth place. Of course if they win the European competition then their place is assured anyway. Unlike Van Gaal and Del Bosque, Cúper played his full strength side, with the only exception of Argentinian internationals Kily González and Piojo López who he left on the bench just in case. Carboni returned to Valencia's left back position, with Albelda and Sánchez covering for the two Argentians who only arrived back from international duty on Friday morning. The flea (well, literally translated the louse, but poetic license allowing..) did come on near the end and set up the third goal, but he wasn't really needed. Club captain Mendieta had done enough in the first half to leave Juande Ramos's team down and out, firstly slicing the home team defence apart with a cross pass for Farinós to finish off, and then beating three men before changing direction and slipping the ball past a surprised Lopetegui for a second goal 'trademark Mendieta'. Ramos had had to change his defence due to the suspension of French defender Hernández, and Clotet came in for him, with Estibariz replacing Ferrón (who was substituted early last week) and Llorens in for Cembranos, not fully fit. Rayo are not the same without the French defender, and they have only won once in the five times he has been missing (three of which were for suspensions after sendings off). Juande's team are now safe for this season, and with nothing to play for they were lacking in effort, with their only real shot in the match coming from a Michel I bicycle kick. At half time the manager brought on the other Michel, the second, and Cembranos played for the last half hour in place of an unhappy Llorens. Cúper rested Mendieta near the end, Oscar coming on and taking his opportunity with another goal, and Bolo finally gave the home supporters something to shout about near the end. All in all a good practice session for the visitors, but also an important result to keep up their run of four league victories in a row. Rayo drop to twelfth, but with Betis losing they are mathematically a first division team for the season 2000/1, and can plan accordingly. A good time was had by all.

Remaining matches: Rayo: Barcelona (A), Oviedo (H), Sevilla (A)
Valencia: Real Sociedad (H), Celta (A), Zaragoza (H)

Alavés 1 - Valladolid 0

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Karmona, Eggen, Téllez, Torres Mestre; Pablo (Azkoitia 70'), Astudillo, Morales; Magno (Ibon Begoña 85'), Julio Salinas (Javi Moreno 63'). 5-3-2.
Valladolid: César; Torres Gómez, Santamaría, Heinze, Marcos (Isailovic 80'); Márquez (Caminero 46'), García Calvo, Vizcaino, Rodrigo; Shoji Jo (Alberto 63'), Víctor. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Alavés: Téllez, Pablo, Salinas for Desio, Nan Ribera, Kodro / Valladolid: Vizcaino, Shoji Jo for Peña, Alberto.

Goals:
1-0. 33 Salinas. Took Contra's pass, turned Santamaria and beat César.

Lets see, Alavés again. Hmmm. What was the score? Oh, of course, 1-0. Ho hum. Take last weeks report, paste and edit: 'Eggen substituted the (suspended Téllez) fever-ridden Desio in a nine man defence/midfield, veteran (Kodro) Salinas (was brought down) span round in the penalty area and scored (from the spot), Javi Moreno came on for (Kodro) Salinas and (Nan Ribera) Eggen was sent off. Alavés won (0-1) 1-0'. Quite simple really. Its just that they have been doing it all season, and are now 99% sure of a place in Europe next year. Actually it was only their seventh 1-0 scoreline of the season, but what stands out is that they are now fifth in the table with a goals for-and-against record of 37-33 in 35 games. One name was on everybody's lips (well maybe two, with the return of Shoji Jo), with Julio Salinas announcing his retirement this week at the young old age of 37. Salinas has decided to quit at the top at the end of this season, although in a televised interview he did admit that he would accept a good offer if it came his way. Old rockers never die........ Alavés manager Mané, who recently agreed to stay at the club for another year, decided to reward Salinas with a place in the first team for one last time, and he didn't disappoint, scoring the only goal of the match to clock up his 151st goal in the Spanish first division, the highest total from a currently active player (it is frightening to note that Real Madrid's Raúl already has 100 at the age of 22). Salinas played last season for the Yokohama Mariners, and he was therefore able to welcome Shoji Jo on to the field with a polite 'konichiwa'. Jo was making his first start for Valladolid since recovering from a serious knee injury six weeks ago, and local doctors were amazed that he could even walk. However it appears that the ligament injury is old, and his knee muscles are strong enough to compensate. Jo was one of two changes in the Valladolid side, Manzano being forced to leave out Peña due to an injury he picked up playing for Bolivia midweek, and Vizcaino came in to midfield, with García Calvo, who passed a late fitness test, moving back to the centre of defence. Salinas's goal came after Márquez had headed wide for the visitors, and those two chances plus a shot by Magno which went just wide were the highlights of the first half. Caminero came on after the break to shore up the visiting midfield, and Vizcaino brought a good save out of the league's best keeper Herrera just after the restart. Salinas and Jo were both taken off by their respective managers in the 63rd minute, Jo politely answering Salinas with 'konbanwa' as they were leaving the field. Referee Daudén Ibáñez upset the locals by disallowing a goal by Astudillo halfway through the half, possibly for a foul on Heinze, and it could have got worse after he sent off Eggen for a second bookable offence ten minutes from the end. Observers were thinking of the riot that was caused earlier in the season with Turienzo Alvarez, but luckily absolutely nothing else happened and everyone went home quietly, happy that Vitoria was going to see European football next season, and if they get a good result next week at Real Madrid - who knows, dare they say the words 'Champions League'? Valladolid drop down to ninth, still only a place away from seventh spot, but as that will not now win a place in Europe their only hope for next season would be to qualify for the Inter-toto competition in the summer. As Shoji Jo and Julio Salinas left the ground they politely waved to each other, 'sayonara'. Tune in next week for your next lesson in Japanese (actually, that's all I know folks, sorry).

Remaining matches: Alavés: Real Madrid (A), Numancia (H), Bilbao (A)
Valladolid: Betis (H), Mallorca (H), Real Madrid (A)