08/03/2004
Real Madrid loses Ronaldo to injury, lead is dwindled

SANTANDER, Spain (Ticker) - Real Madrid played Racing Santander to a 1-1 draw Saturday, but the sight of star striker Ronaldo limping off the field was of greater concern to the defending Primera Liga champions.

Ronaldo had to be helped off the field when he suffered a thigh injury in the second half of Real's match against Racing. The injury will force him to miss at least Wednesday's match against Bayern Munich in the UEFA Chapmions League, and the Liga match this weekend vs. Zaragoza.

Real took the lead in the 28th minute as Santiago Solari finished off the sliding cross pass of Zinedine Zidane. The lead was short-lived as Santander came back four minutes later. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas misplayed a crossing pass and allowed Yossi Benayoun to tap in the equalizer.

Valencia took advantage of a short-handed Deportivo de La Coruna side for a 3-0 victory, and cutting Real's lead atop the standings to just six points.

Deportivo rested several stars, including Victor Sanchez and Nourredine Naybet, in anticipation of their Champions League match against Juventus Tuesday.

Valencia's first goal came about when Deportivo's Mauro Silva received a red card for a hard foul in the penalty area. Rodriguez Vicente netted the first of his two goals with the subsequent penalty shot.

Despite playing the rest of the match with just 10 men, Deportivo managed to keep it close the entire game. Any hopes of stealing a draw came to an end when Vicente scored his second goal during injury time in the second half. Juan Sanchez added another goal one minute later to cap the scoring.

Espanyol greatly helped its chances to avoid relegation with a 5-1 beating of relegation rival Celta Vigo.

Raul Tamudo and Moustapha Hadji scored all the goals Espanyol would need to give Espanyol a 2-0 lead into halftime. Tamudo and Gregory Vignal scored second-half goals, and they even got help when Vigo's Fernando Sergio put in an own-goal.

Espanyol trails Mallorca by three points for 17th place - the final spot out of the relegation zone.

In other action from the weekend, Barcelona edged Mallorca, 3-2; Atletico Madrid drew Murcia, 1-1; Valladolid posted a 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao; Osasuna tied Real Sociedad, 1-1; FC Sevilla blanked Villarreal, 2-0; Albacete edged Betis Sevilla, 1-0; and Real Zaragoza topped Malaga, 1-0.