体坛英语新闻：Barca win the 'Clasico' while Atletico Madrid keep up the pace in Spain

MADRID, March 3 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona left Real Madrid trailing by the wayside in the race for the title in Matchday 26 in Spain and probably ensured that Madrid coach Santiago Solari won't be at the club at the end of the season at the same time.

Barca's 1-0 win in the Santiago Bernabeu was their second win on Real Madrid's home turf in just four days and buried their league hopes as on Wednesday's they ended their rival's expectations in the Copa dle Rey.

Ivan Rakitic scored the only goal of the game and although Barca defenders Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet had to be alert to block chances from Vinicius Jr and Luka Modric, Barca controlled most of the game and now sit 12 points clear of a Madrid side that has lost three consecutive home games.

Atletico Madrid lost 3-0 away to Real Sociedad last season, but this Sunday, two first half headers from Alvaro Morata gave them a 2-0 win which leaves them second in the table, seven points behind Barca and five ahead of Real Madrid.

The only disappointment for Atletico was that Koke was sent off in the second half for two bookings and will miss next Saturday's derby at home to Leganes.

Leandro Cabrera and Jaime Mata (who netted his 11th goal of the season) helped Getafe take advantage of Betis' Copa del Rey hangover and strengthen their claim on a top-four finish as Getafe won 2-1 in the Benito Villamarin Stadium.

Joaquin Rodriguez scored for Betis with 15 minutes left to play, but Getafe's defense snuffed out any hopes that goal gave the home side.

Valencia ended a good week, which saw them qualify to play Barca in the Cup final, with a 2-0 win at home to Athletic Club Bilbao.

Athletic should have had a first half penalty for a clear foul on Raul Garcia, but never looked like recovering once Rodrigo Moreno had put Valencia ahead with a spectacular 48th minute volley and Kevin Gameiro confirmed Valencia's win in the last minute.

Wu Lei made history on Saturday when he became the first ever Chinese player to score in the Spanish top-flight after he scored Espanyol's third goal in their 3-1 win at home to Valladolid.

Wu Lei's historic goal came in the 66th minute after goals from Borja Iglesias (his 11th of the season) and Mario Hermoso had put them 2-1 ahead.

The battle for Europe continues to look tense with Alaves strengthening their claims with a 2-1 win away to relegation haunted Villarreal, who remain third from bottom of the table.

Following a goalless first half in the Estadio de la Ceramica, Guillermo Maripan opened the scoring with a 54th minute header following a corner, although Santi Cazorla's penalty soon leveled the scores.

Villarreal pressured for a much needed win, but were caught with a sucker punch 12 minutes from time when Takashi Inui's first goal for Alaves sent all three points back to Vitoria.

Celta Vigo also remain in deep trouble after Sergi Enrich's late goal condemned them to a 1-0 defeat away to Eibar. Celta did nothing to deserve anything from the game and the defeat and hours later coach Miguel Cardoso paid for it with his job.

Ezequiel Avila netted a 98th minute winner to give Huesca a dramatic win at home to Sevilla, which keeps the home side's chances of a survival on track.

Huesca have lost just one of their last six games and after looking condemned to the drop after being 10 points adrift of safety in Matchday 20, the side from the north of Spain, are now just three points from maintaining their top-flight position.