Real Madrid just two points from Spanish title 28/04/2008 00:00

Villarreal's 1-0 win at Betis leaves the whites needing two points from their last four games.

28 April 2008

MADRID - Real Madrid needs just two more points to clinch the Spanish Liga title after Sunday's victory over Athletic Bilbao, in which the leaders were more pragmatic than brilliant.

Real were hoping to celebrate their 31st Liga title on Sunday, but Villarreal's 1-0 win earlier in the evening at Betis leaves the whites needing two points from their last four games.

Bernd Schuster's team now have 75 points from 34 games, 10 points ahead of Villarreal.

As so often this season, Real did not play well Sunday but were razor-sharp in both penalty areas.

Their best player, once again, was goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who kept out a penalty and pulled off several other sharp saves.

The news of Villarreal's win slightly dampened the pre-match ambience of euphoria in the Estadio Bernabeu.

But there were cheers aplenty when little opportunist Javier Saviola - making a rare star for Real - shot the hosts ahead in the 14th minute with his left foot, after Bilbao keeper Armando had spilled a soft shot from Robinho.

In the 37th minute, Casillas saved a penalty from Joseba Garamendia, after Gabriel Heinze had fouled Fernando Llorente in the box.

Midtable Bilbao created more chances to equalize, only to be foiled time and again by Casillas.

In the 74th minute, Arjen Robben, who had only been on the field for three minutes, made it 2-0 by turning in a perfect centre from fellow substitute Gonzalo Higuain.

Three minutes later, Higuain added the third with a powerful, near-post drive.

"I'm very happy," Saviola told Canal Plus at the end, "because we are really close to achieving our objective now."

Indeed they are. A win Sunday at lowly Osasuna will be enough for the whites, who have been on top of the table since August.

Earlier Sunday, Villarreal worked hard to win at midtable Betis. Manuel Pellegrini's outfit gave a solid display, crowned by a spectacular goal from Marcos Senna.

In the 16th minute, Spain midfielder Senna spotted young Betis keeper Casto Espinosa off his line - and beat him with an audacious long shot from just over the halfway line.

Betis dominated the second half, and veteran Jose Mari Romero thrice came close to levelling.

But Villarreal managed to hold on, partly due to the efforts, ironically, of former Real keeper Diego Lopez.

Pellegrini's team are now four points ahead of third-place Barcelona, who put out a reserve-packed team Saturday at Deportivo Coruna - looking ahead to Tuesday's Champions League semi-final first-leg showdown against Manchester United - and were rewarded with a 2-0 defeat.

Barca have failed to win in their last five league games, their worst run since Frank Rijkaard took over in 2003.

Barca are six points ahead of fourth-placed Atletico Madrid, who could only draw 1-1 Sunday at lowly Getafe.

Jaime Gavilan gave Getafe an early lead, but Sergio Aguero - one of the stars of the Spanish season - levelled for Atletico. Ruben de la Red missed a late penalty for Getafe.

[dpa / Expatica]