Title race hots up

European Round-Up: Real Madrid and Barcelona are still neck and neck in the race for the Primera Liga title with 72 points after…

European Round-Up:Real Madrid and Barcelona are still neck and neck in the race for the Primera Liga title with 72 points after both won at home on Saturday. Real, who beat Deportivo Coruna 3-1, are first with a superior head-to-head record. Ten-man Barcelona kept the pressure on their arch-rivals by earning a nervy 1-0 win over King's Cup finalists Getafe.

Third-placed Sevilla are two points behind after a 3-1 home win over fifth-placed Real Zaragoza last night. Valencia are fourth with 65 points after losing 3-2 at home to local rivals Villarreal on Saturday.

Celta Vigo scored an injury-time penalty to beat Real Betis 2-1 at home and keep their hopes of avoiding relegation alive. Brazilian striker Fernando Baiano scored from the spot and put 19th-placed Celta level on 33 points with Real Sociedad, who lost 2-0 at Osasuna to remain 18th. Celta and Sociedad are four points from the safety zone with two matches left. Levante's 3-2 win at Santander assured them of top-flight football next season as they climbed to 15th on 39 points.

In Italy, Juventus coach Didier Deschamps has quit after just one season despite leading the fallen Italian giants back to the top flight following their 2-0 win over Mantova on Saturday - which assured them of the Serie B championship.

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Chievo were relegated from Serie A yesterday after a 2-0 defeat by fellow strugglers Catania and Siena's 2-1 win over Lazio. Five sides were battling to avoid the final relegation spot on the last day but Chievo were the only team that failed to win and were thus condemned to the drop.

Champions Inter signed off with a 3-0 home win over Torino.