Barcelona, Spain – It wasn't easy, but Barcelona mounted a second-half comeback on Saturday to down Sevilla, 2-1, at the Camp Nou with goals from David Villa and Lionel Messi.
Barcelona sustained a surprising 2-0 defeat to AC Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday, and instead of bouncing back straight away on Saturday, the Catalans went behind to a first-half goal from Alberto Botia.
A cross from the right delivered by Coke Andujar allowed Botia to redirect his header inside the left post, putting Sevilla up 1-0 late in the first half.
But Barcelona needed just seven minutes after the break to pull back to level terms when Dani Alves got down the right wing and served a ball into the area for Villa turn past goalkeeper Beto from six yards.
Messi then put Barca in front eight minutes later after a nice move was capped by a pass from Cristian Tello to the Argentina international, who was positioned near the penalty spot and who was able to easily slide the ball past Beto, giving him a goal in his last 15 La Liga matches.
Sevilla had a good chance to level the contest 15 minutes from time, but Alvaro Negrado fired over the net with just goalkeeper Victor Valdes to beat.
Real Madrid 2, Deportivo 1
Madrid, Spain - Real Madrid needed two goals in the final 20 minutes to claim a 2-1 away win against struggling Deportivo on Saturday.
Deportivo entered the match on a run of five successive defeats, but the hosts snatched the lead 10 minutes before halftime through Riki, who got into the penalty area on the left and beat goalkeeper Diego Lopez at his near post.
The lead could have been increased by Deportivo as the match entered the second half, but the hosts paid for their wastefullness in front of goal when Kaka curled home the equalizer in the 73rd minute from the edge of the penalty area.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't start the game for Real, but he came off the bench in the 57th minute and helped set up the winning goal in the 88th when he dashed into the area and squared the ball past goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia, leaving Gonzalo Higuain with a simple tap-in.
Getafe 3, Mallorca 1
Mallorca, Spain - Getafe won for the third time in four games on Saturday after scoring three goals in the final 20 minutes of a 3-1 victory at Mallorca.
Adrian Colunga scored two goals in the last eight minutes for Getafe to break a 1-1 deadlock and extend Mallorca's winless streak to eight games.
Giovani Dos Santos scored the opening goal midway through the first half for Mallorca with a nice solo effort, but Getafe equalized from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to play after Mallorca's Nunes was called for handling the ball inside his own area.
Diego Castro converted the spot kick and Colunga put his team in front in the 82nd minute with a header before stretching the result beyond reach with a volley from Jaime Gavilan's cross.
Mallorca is 19th in La Liga with the defeat and sits seven points from safety.
Real Zaragoza 2, Valencia 2
Aragon, Spain - Real Zaragoza moved five points clear of the relegation places on Saturday but could have had more as the club threw away a two-goal lead and had to settle for a 2-2 home draw with Valencia.
A successful penalty kick from Apono just five minutes into the contest put Zaragoza ahead, while Helder Postiga scored on a header in the 32nd minute to make it 2-0.
But Jonas pulled a goal back for Valencia four minutes later when he converted Aly Cissokho's cross.
The visitors were level 20 minutes from time as a flicked header from Victor Ruiz was stabbed home by Jonas at close range, while Zaragoza had to see out the final 10 minutes down a man after goalkeeper Leo Franco was sent off for handling the ball outside his penalty area.
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