BankofAthletes - Investing in Talents

Real Madrid secured their ninth straight victory after coming from behind to beat Sporting Gijon 3-1 on Saturday to open up a three-point gap on bitter rivals Barcelona at the top of La Liga.

The home side were the better team in the first half but lacked the killer touch in front of goal with Gonzalo Higuain missing two excellent chances.

After the break, Sporting went ahead against the run of play through David Barral, but the goal injected some much-needed urgency into Real.

Just a minute later Rafael Van der Vaart brought Real level, although replays suggest he controlled the ball with his hand, and then Xabi Alonso headed them into the lead.

Higuain finally got on the scoresheet to finish off the threat from Sporting.

The onus is now on Barcelona who must beat Zaragoza on Sunday to remain level on points with Real.

The champions have not been playing at their best and it is largely thanks to Lionel Messi, who has scored eight of their last ten goals, that they are still locked in a tight tussle with Real.

Coach Pep Guardiola, though, has emphasised the importance of the team as a whole playing well from now until the end of the season.

"When I talk about the team I am not trying to downplay Messi at all. There is no doubt that Leo is very important to us because he is the best player in the world, and he is like Michael Jordan was to basketball," said the coach.

"The aim is that he is involved as much as possible in the game and that he gets the ball in dangerous areas as that is where he likes to be.

"He is the first to press and win balls and this is contagious for the rest of the players. We can do something special this year but we need to be all at our best."

A surprise 2-0 defeat for Deportivo La Coruna against Valladolid allowed Athletic Bilbao to move above them into a Europa League place.

The visitors took the game to Deportivo from the start and Nauzet Aleman put Valladolid ahead six minutes before half time.

Deportivo showed little guile or invention in the second half and in injury time Valladolid scored again on the counter-attack through Haris Medunjanin.

Athletic snatched sixth place despite conceding an equaliser to finish 2-2 with Getafe.

They appeared comfortably in control after Pablo Orbaiz had given them the lead but then a cross from Manu del Moral ended up looping into the goal for Getafe.

The impressive Fernando Llorente put Athletic back in front before Pedro Leon grabbed Getafe an important point in their own bid for a place in Europe.

Xerez kept their slim hopes of survival alive after they beat fellow strugglers Tenerife 2-1.

Goals from Mario Bermejo and Aythami Artiles gave them the victory with Juan Nino scoring a consolation for Tenerife.

On Sunday, Valencia have David Villa back as they look to end their three-match run without a win against Almeria.

They remain three points clear in third mainly due to the inconsistent form of their rivals for a Champions League place.