A sad week for Spanish football in Europe as Barcelona and Real Madrid were both knocked out of the Champions League, leaving Spain without a representative in the quarter final draw for the first time in twelve years. The two giants did put up a fight though, Ronaldinho scoring twice (including a penalty) to turn round a three goal deficit before Chelsea got the winner, and Madrid taking Juventus into extra time before bowing out. Later in the week a Savio away goal helped Zaragoza to a 1-1 draw in their UEFA Cup tie in Austria, and Sevilla were held 0-0 by Parma.

Barcelona recovered to open up an eleven point gap over Madrid in the weekend's round of league games, Deco getting one of their goals as they beat Athletic 2-0. Villarreal are now third though after a convincing 4-1 win over one of their closest rivals Espanyol, Forlán getting his seventeenth of the season and Riquelme also scoring from the penalty spot to confirm their position as one of the best sides in Europe at the moment. Elsewhere Fernando Torres scored his eighth in as many games to move Atlético close to the European places, and Edu got a vital goal for Betis to take them back up to the Champions' League spots. (14.03.05)