Erreala slipping, Athletic rising and the rest of the Basque teams staying afloat

[Bilbao2Brooklyn]

Sociedad are losing the distance between first and second, and i dont see them in first in 3 weeks from now :( however with possible Champions League distractions for Val and Mad they have a shot. They need DePedro to return.
Athletic are playing better but look to be on the outside of a european shot woth Atletico to far away.
Alaves and Osasuna look to still be playing in the first league next year.

If Sociedad win first(which would be remarKable considering Madrid's starting XI) and Athletic get a euorpean spot that would be homerun for Basque Futbol.

[Bilbao2Brooklyn]

from www.cnnsi.com/soccer






MADRID (Reuters) -- Real Sociedad re-established their two-point lead at the top of the Spanish first division with a composed 2-0 victory at home to Osasuna on Sunday.

Sociedad, without a win in three matches and under pressure following Real Madrid's victory at home to Valladolid on Saturday, recovered their poise with goals from Darko Kovacevic and Mikel Alonso.

The result gave the Basques 47 points from 23 games and took them back ahead of second-placed Real Madrid on 45.


REAL MALLORCA 1 ATHLETIC BILBAO 1

Mallorca played poorly but they at least managed to bring to an end their run of four successive league successive defeats.

Santi Ezquerro put Bilbao ahead on five minutes, heading in from Tiko's cross, but Julian Robles equalized for the islanders midway through the first half by hooking a right-foot shot over his shoulder from eight meters.

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REAL SOCIEDAD 2 OSASUNA 0

Real Sociedad returned to the top of the table with their first win in four league games.

The home side always had the edge over a hardworking Osasuna side but they needed a slice of luck to take the lead just before halftime, as Jose Javier Barkero's corner hit Darko Kovacevic's knee and ballooned into the net.

Sociedad were more relaxed after the break and passed the ball around at their leisure. Their second goal came on 64 minutes when Christian Manfredini's clearance fell straight to Mikel Alonso to smash the ball in.