SPANISH PRIMERA LIGA SOCCER REPORT

*Barcelona leads by nine heading into clash at Real Madrid*
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BARCELONA, Spain (Ticker) - Barcelona remains the favorite to
land its first Spanish Primera Liga title since 1999 despite
seeing its advantage over second-place Real Madrid reduced to
just nine points following the latest round of matches.

The league-leaders needed two late goals to rescue a dramatic,
3-3, home draw against short-handed Real Betis while Real
struggled for a 2-1 victory over relegation candidates Albacete
at Carlos Belmonte Stadium.

The gap between the top two sides could be reduced to six points
if Real can defeat Barca in a showdown April 11 at Santiago
Bernabeu Stadium.

Betis went in front on a goal by Joaquin Sanchez in the 12th
minute, but saw defender David Rivas red-carded in the 15th
minute for blatantly pulling down Barca's Deco in the penalty
box.

Samuel Eto'o scored the resulting penalty kick but Betis was up
two goals by the 62nd minute thanks to Ricardo Oliveira and
Sanchez.

However, Barca upped the tempo and was rewarded when Eto'o and
Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored in the final five minutes to
earn their side a point.

Real fell behind when Pablo Redondo scored for Albacete in the
ninth minute but first-half goals by Ivan Helguera and Michael
Owen proved enough to earn Wanderley Luxemburgo's side all three
points.

The race for the final two Champions League spots remains much
closer than the battle at the top.

Fourth-placed Betis is tied at 49 points with Espanyol and
Sevilla, which picked up three points Sunday and remained one
point behind Villarreal after a 3-1 win against Athletic Bilbao
on Saturday.

Espanyol was up against an energetic Racing Santander side at El
Sardinero Stadium but still came away with a 3-1 victory to
move into fifth place.

Talismanic striker Raul Tamudo put the visitors in front from
the penalty spot, only to see Yossi Benayoun equalize in the
35th minute.

Daniel Jarque headed Espanyol back in the lead just prior to
halftime before Maxi Rodriguez wrapped things up in the 48th
minute.

Sevilla is sixth after they overcoming last-place Numancia 1-0
at Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium.

Despite dominating the game, it took the hosts 69 minutes to
score the all-important goal, which came from the boot of
Brazilian midfielder Adriano Correia.

Meanwhile, Numancia look doomed as it remains anchored at the
bottom of the standings, 11 points adrift of safety.

Atletico Madrid is one place and one point behind Valencia after
thrashing relegation-haunted Mallorca, 4-0, at Vicente Calderon
Stadium.

Midfielder Gonzalo Colsa opened the scoring in the 26th minute
and the prolific Fernando Torres added a second on the hour
after coach Hector Cuper's men had Sergio Ballesteros
red-carded.

Salva Ballesta scored in the final five minutes to pile on the
misery for Mallorca, which finished the match with nine men as
Mark Iuliano also was ejected.

A resurgent Deportivo La Coruna team is only four points off the
final Champions League berth after securing a 1-0 triumph at
Levante.

Spanish striker Diego Tristan fired in the only goal of the game
in the 40th minute for his ninth strike of the season.

Malaga and Getafe tied, 1-1, at La Rosaleda Stadium - a result
which inches them further clear of the bottom four.  Victoriano
Nano levelled matters 13 minutes before the break after Fernando
Baiano had given the hosts a deserved 14th-minute lead.
st 04-05-05 03:59 et