Defending champion Barcelona suffered another shock defeat from Villarreal 2-0 on Sunday night to boost Sevilla and Real Madrid chances of winning the gold. Robert Pires, who makes got his first starting role of the season, opened the score (56) and Marcos Garcia (85) hit the killer to secure the full points of the game. Although the Catalans had just won one of their last nine away games in the Primera Liga, they are still on top of the table with just a point ahead of Sevilla and two from Real Madrid. Frank Rijkaard's men made a brilliant start of the game and had the better chances of scoring as Ronaldinho, and flamboyant Lionnel Messi were denied by defenders and Samuel Eto'o's shot went inches off the post against a single chance for Diego Forlan. The home side made a made a good comeback after the break as Pires broke the deadlock after springing the offside trap after a great long ball by Capi from his own half and clipping past Victor Valdes. Substitute Eidur Gudjohnsen could have scored the equalizer but Villarreal keeper was well placed to keep his clean sheet. Garcia secured the victory from a well placed shot just five minutes before time. Otherwise Sevilla thrashed Athletico Bilbao 4-1 to cut Barca's lead to just one point.
