Barcelona fell at the last hurdle in the Champions League, Piqué's goal in a 1-0 win over Inter Milan not enough to overturn the first leg result. Spain will have one side in a European final though, an injury time strike by Diego Forlán at Liverpool taking Atlético Madrid through on the away goal rule.

Barcelona bounced back though at the weekend, Messi scoring twice and Xavi and Bojan adding two more in a 1-4 win at Villarreal. The following day Real Madrid kept up the pace with a 3-2 victory over Osasuna, although Cristiano Ronaldo's own second and his side's third didn't come until two minutes from the end. Elsewhere Zigic scored two at Espanyol to keep Valencia on track for third, and Negredo netted two penalties after Luis Fabiano opened the scoring for Sevilla against Atlético in a preview of this season's cup final.

The Andalusians stay fifth though after Mallorca won 1-3 at Athletic Bilbao, Aduríz rounding things off against his old side after Llorente had levelled the scores for the locals. Finally (and it was finally, in the 93rd minute) Mario Bermejo headed the winner for Xerez against Almería to keep alive his team's slim hopes of survival. With two more rounds of games coming up in the next seven days, that and many more issues may well be decided when next Monday comes around. (03.05.10)