Alavés 1 - Málaga 2

Alavés: Herrera; Contra, Eggen, Téllez, Geli; Desio (Magno 55'), Pablo; Azkoitia (Vucko 60'), Jordi Cruyff, Ibon Begoña (Javi Moreno 35'); Iván Alonso. 4-2-3-1.
Málaga: Contreras; Larrainzar, Fernando Sanz, Bravo, Roteta (Rojas 88'); Rufete, Sandro (Edgar 75'), Movilla, Agostinho (Musampa 65'); Canabal, Dely Valdés. 4-4-2.

Team changes: Alavés: Azkoitia for Tomic / Málaga: Larrainzar, Movilla, Canabal for Rojas, De los Santos, Darío Silva.

Goals:
0-1. 23. Larrainzar. Header into net after corner came over from right.
0-2. 47. Rufete. Took pass from Movilla and volleyed shot past stationary keeper.
1-2. 61. Téllez. Header wide of keeper from corner on right.

Alavés were brought back down to Earth by an efficient Málaga side who came away from the Mendizorroza stadium with all three points. Having qualified for the UEFA cup final last Thursday the Vitoria based team were on a high, although the nervous energy spent in their match with Kaiserslauten had left them mentally and physically drained. With Tomic away on international duty, Mané made four changes from the eleven who started that match, Contra passing a late fitness test to come back in and Jordi Cruyff returning after being rested. There was no place in the initial line up for Javi Moreno though, Iván Alonso holding on to the striker's spot after scoring again during the week. Málaga had to make do without their two Uruguayan internationals, De los Santos and Darío Silva, both called up by their country, and Movilla and Canabal covered for them.

Having gone eight games in all competitions without defeat, and never having lost at home to Málaga in seven previous encounters, Alavés were favourites to win. However this was an important match for Málaga in their fight to get into Europe next season, and they were up against a direct rival for (and current incumbent of) the only available spot, assuming that is that the top five in the league don't falter too much in the remaining games. The visitors took the early initiative, with Agostinho creating problems for Contra down the left wing, and they went into a deserved lead halfway through the first half when Larrainzar got ahead of Eggen to head home a corner. Mané couldn't wait for half time and brought on Moreno ten minutes before the break and the 'pichichi' quickly got involved hitting the post with an effort shortly after the restart.

Before that though Málaga went two up, Rufete striking a shot into the top corner of the net which Herrera appeared to misjudge. Mané put all his meat in the oven (as they say here) and brought on two more forwards, Vucko and Magno, to join Alonso and Moreno, and within a couple of minutes they got one back, central defender Téllez coming from behind to head past Contreras in a carbon copy of Larrainzar's goal. They were leaving themselves open at the back though, and Málaga could have gone further in front on a couple of counterattacks if Canabal and substitute Edgar had been more on target. With three minutes to go Vucko should have equalised, but Contreras pulled off the save of the night to hold on to the victory. It left Málaga now only a point behind their rivals, with Celta sneaking past into the elusive sixth place as Alavés drop down to seventh. If they can complete the miracle and win the UEFA cup there may be an extra place in next season's competition, but just in case they need to finish as high as possible this time. This was not a good result for them.