| In
another low scoring round of league games, Real Madrid's five goal thrashing of
Alavés to take the title for the 28th time was the highlight of the
weekend. It was side-billed as the battle of the Pichichis, with Raúl
starting the match only one behind Javi Moreno, who has just signed with AC
Milan for next season. In the end though Moreno didn't get a look in as Figo
engineered a convincing victory against the UEFA cup runners up. Raúl
got two to go ahead of his rival and move to within three of Rivaldo on an "all
club games" basis, and Guti notched his eighteenth of the season after
Raúl set him up. Hierro headed his 100th league goal in the same match,
making him one of the highest scorers still in active football (he is a
defender remember), and his probable succesor Iván Helguera got his
eleventh of the season. The big match of the week though was the Champions
League final, with Valencia finally losing to Bayern Munich in the penalty
shoot out. Mendieta's early goal gave the fans hope for a few minutes at least,
and the captain came to their rescue again at the weekend with an injury time
strike to save a point at Racing and move them further out of Barcelona's reach
for the last Champions League spot. Barcelona meanwhile were being humiliated
by Oviedo, and Rivaldo and Kluivert have only managed one goal between them in
the last six weeks. Deportivo too came unstuck against Valladolid, although
Makaay did at least break his five week drought with a late consolation goal.
One of the league's forgotten men, Kaviedes, was given a rare chance and scored
the opening goal in that game, his first since week 6 and only his fourth of
the season. Palermo too came back with his first goal in five weeks to
reconcile himself with his fans at Villarreal, which is more than can be said
for Zaragoza's Esnaider, who pronounced himself unfit for this weekend's game
after fighting with a supporter last week. Other goalscorers of the week were
Eto'o, who got two of Mallorca's four to ensure a Champions League place for
next season, and Urzaiz (Bilbao) and Tamudo (Espanyol), who both got their
twelfth of the current campaign to no avail, each of them ending up on the
losing side in their respective games. (28.05.01) |
