Barcelona won 2-1 at Real Zaragoza on Saturday night to close the gap on Spanish Primera Liga leaders Real Madrid, who lost 2-1 at Real Betis.Real Madrid threw away a lead as Betis did second-placed Barca a favour by coming from behind to see off the leaders in Seville.
Royston Drenthe scored after five minutes with Madrid looking in the same rampant mood which saw them thrash Real Valladolid 7-0 last weekend.
But Betis had other ideas and two goals in three minutes from Edu and Mark Gonzalez - both headers - turned the game on its head.
After two straight defeats and with the relegation spots looming closer it was the Betis players who were the more inspired, and once Real Madrid had fallen behind they hardly looked likely to come back, although substitute Ruud van Nistelrooy did hit the post in the second half.
That gave Barca the opportunity to close the gap to five points, and they did so with a hard-earned victory away to Zaragoza.
Thierry Henry put the visitors in front with a well-taken goal after 34 minutes at La Romareda.
Diego Milito blazed a penalty kick over the bar on 42 minutes but Zaragoza did get back on level terms when Ricardo Oliveira drilled home a classy equaliser for the hosts eight minutes in the second half.
A controversial handball decision then went against Juanfran in the 83rd minute, allowing Ronaldhinho to give the visitors all three points from the spot - the Brazilian's first goal since mid-December.
Meanwhile, Espanyol's dream of Champions League football now looks even more distant after the Catalan side lost for the fifth time in six league matches on Saturday - 4-2 at home to Sevilla.
Espanyol found themselves two goals down after Luis Fabiano and Frederic Kanoute struck within 11 minutes for a Sevilla side looking close to their brilliant best, and were unable to get back into the game despite Luis Garcia's strike four minutes before the break.
Christian Poulsen added a third for Sevilla after Espanyol full-back Pablo Zabaleta was sent off.
And, although Ferran Corominas hit back immediately for the home side, Diego Capel struck two minutes later to ensure a third win in four games for Sevilla and another miserable evening for Espanyol.
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