Barca extend lead at top of table in Spain's match-day 27

 　　MADRID, March 10 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona extended their lead at the top of the BBVA Primera Liga to 13 points in Spain's matchday 27.

　　Barca's 2-0 win at home to bottom of the table Deportivo La Coruna on Saturday coupled with Atletico's Madrid's 1-0 home defeat to Real Sociedad and Real Madrid's 2-1 win away to Celta Vigo, saw Real Madrid overtake their neighbors in the league table to emerge¹ as Barca's main challengers for the title.

　　Barcelona rested key players for their game against Deportivo as they look to prepare for Tuesday's Champions League tie at home to AC Milan and the result was a flat performance enlivened only by a goal from Alexis Sanchez and a lovely late goal from Leo Messi, who has now scored in his last 17 league appearances.

　　Real Madrid win away in Vigo against a Celta side who have slipped to second from bottom of the table, thanks to two goals from Cristiano Ronaldo sandwiched around a strike from Celta's Iago Aspes.

　　Madrid were not at their best, but were too good for Celta, although the final minutes saw both sides miss good chances to add to the score.

　　Finally Real Sociedad gave their hopes of Champions League a huge boost² as they won 1-0 away to Atletico. It was the first home defeat of the season for Diego Simeone's side and came just five days after he signed a new five year deal at the club.

　　Xabi Prieto scored the only goal of the game early in the second half, breaking from midfield and keeping his nerve to score with a low shot.

　　Sunday also saw Iker Muniain's first goal of the season give Athletic³ Club Bilbao an important home win against a Valencia side that missed enough chances in the second half to have won the game.

　　The win lifts Athletic comfortably clear of the relegation⁴ zone, while denting⁵ Valencia's hopes of a top four finish.

　　Levante and Getafe drew 0-0 in the Ciudad de Valencia Stadium, but Levante can feel hard done to after a late free kick from Vicente Iborra clearly bounced over the Getafe goal-line.

　　Rayo Vallecano keep hopes of qualifying⁶ for Europe alive on Saturday with a solid 2-0 win at home to Espanyol. Chori Dominguez opened the scoring after nine minutes and Piti assured the points 13 minutes from time.

　　The closing minutes saw Rayo duo Javi Fuego and Leo Baptistao force bookings that mean they will be suspended for next weekend's trip to play Barcelona.

　　Valladolid and Malaga shared the points following a 1-1 draw in a rainy Nuevo Zorrilla Stadium as Martin Demichelis' opener for Malaga was cancelled out by Manucho's eighth league goal of the season.

　　Mallorca meanwhile gave themselves a great chance of avoiding relegation as two goals from Alejandro Alfaro against his former club gave them a 2-1 win at home to Sevilla. The win, which harms Sevilla's slim chances of playing in Europe next season, means Mallorca have taken six points from their last two games.

　　The round of matches ends on Monday when Zaragoza, who have not won in 2013, play at home to fellow strugglers, Granada.

1 emerge   

vi.（从水中等）出来，出现，浮现，形成

参考例句：

• The baby's head was starting to emerge from the womb.婴儿的头开始从母亲的子宮中露出来。
• It's still hard to tell who will emerge victorious.鹿死谁手尚难逆料。

2 boost   

n.鼓励，激励，提高；v.鼓励，使增强信心

参考例句：

• This will be a great boost to the economy.这对于经济发展将是一个巨大的促进。
• These changes will help to boost share prices.这些变化将有助于提高股票价格。

3 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

4 relegation   

n.驱逐，贬黜；降级

参考例句：

• Liaoning team lost this game, is still deeply avoid relegation zone. 辽宁队本场失利后，仍然深陷保级区。 来自互联网
• In society, relegation is based on your income. 社会上的规类是以你的收入为基准。 来自互联网

5 denting   

v.使产生凹痕( dent的现在分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等）

参考例句：

• Dad gave me a rocket for denting his car. 因为我撞坏了我父亲的车，为此他痛骂了我一顿。 来自互联网
• Because titanium isextremely strong, it is resistant to scratching, denting, and bending. 由于钛isextremely强，可耐刮伤，凹陷，和弯曲。 来自互联网

6 qualifying   

使具有资格的

参考例句：

• players who fail at the pre-qualifying stage 在预选赛中淘汰掉的选手
• A doctoral candidate is required to pass a qualifying examination. 考博士需通过一个资格考试。