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Bad start for Michel as Getafe lose again

SoccerNews in La Liga 3 May 2009

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New Getafe coach Michel tasted defeat in his first match in charge losing 2-1 to Real Mallorca on Sunday to leave the club staring relegation in the face.

A disastrous mistake from Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, on loan from Portugueses giants Sporting Lisbon, gifted Mallorca the winning goal on 68 minutes with Aritz Aduriz pouncing on his slack goalkick to slot home.

Last season Getafe were jostling with Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup and lost to Valencia in the Kings Cup final but they currently lie fourth from bottom.

Getafe sacked Victor Munoz on Monday after three successive defeats but a new coach did not bring a change of fortune.

Michel won six league titles as a player with Real Madrid and is not used to fighting relegation and has little time to adapt with just four games left to save the club from the drop.

Recretivo Huelva scored a crucial late winner to down relegation rivals Osasuna 2-1 on Sunday and are now just a point from safety.

Defender Nasief Morris scored a brilliant volleyed winner in the dying seconds of the match to boost Recre’s chances of staying up. Osasuna stay two points above the bottom three after the defeat.

Sporting Gijon were frustrated by a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. Incredibly it was Sporting’s first draw of the season and they are now level on points with Getafe who occupy the final safety spot.

Bilbao look to have won their relegation battle and are gearing up for their clash with Barcelona in the Kings Cup final in Valencia on May 13.

Later on Sunday Atletico Madrid go south to face Real Betis needing a win to keep up their fading Champions League hopes. Atletico are four points behind fourth-placed Valencia with time running out.

“If we want to be in the top four at the end of the season we have to beat Betis,” said Dutch defender Johnny Heitinga.

Valencia travel to a rapidly-improving Espanyol side that have collected 13 points from the last 15 to enhance their chances of beating the drop.

“We have to go into the Espanyol match like we did against Barcelona,” said Valencia coach Unai Emery. “Espanyol have improved a lot and they have showed that in the last few matches.”

Deportivo La Coruna are still in with an outside shot of Champions League football defeating Valladolid 1-0 on Sunday to move four points behind Valencia.

On Saturday Barcelona took a giant stride to the title thrashing arch rivals Real Madrid 6-2 at the Santiago Bernabeu to open up a seven point gap at the top with four games left.

“I think Barcelona are a cut above and showed that they were superior,” admitted Real coach Juande Ramos.

Barcelona continue their treble bid on Wednesday when they travel to Chelsea for the Champions League semi-final second leg with the first leg finishing 0-0.

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