Real Madrid's win reversed, prospects for remaining slim Champions

Real Madrid suffered a setback yesterday, losing their first away match of the season against Almería by 2:1 in a reversal, keeping their faint title hopes alive. Derby lost to Barcelona after falling behind Real Madrid in third place among old rivals, making the prospect of victory quite elusive. The day before yesterday, Barcelona gained three points from La Coruña, which was no accident for Real Madrid. In the 13th minute, wearing green jerseys, Almería’s Kelusate fell to the ground and poked the ball into the net, scoring 1:0. Real Madrid received a lesson in the first 27 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo made consecutive defensive players break into restricted areas, with a low drive into the lower right corner, succeeding at 1:1. This goal also tied Ronaldo with Higuain as top scorers this season for Real Madrid, each having scored 26 goals. In the 69th minute, Real Madrid's Van der Vaart then capitalized on Higuain’s pass, closing the network with an arc shot, scoring 2:1. With this victory, Real Madrid continued to close the gap, trailing Barcelona by 3 points. After the match, goal hero Van der Vaart said, "I missed a lot of scoring opportunities, but we won better. If you want to win, then we have to win all six games after this. We have been very competitive this season, but Barcelona is better." Valencia's team achieved a 2-0 home win over Athletic Bilbao, continuing to secure third place in the standings.