BARCELONA, Spain -- Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid both slipped up in the Spanish league on Sunday to tighten a compelling title race even further. Atleticos march toward its first title since 1996 hit a bump when it lost 2-0 at Levante, although its city rival failed to make up much ground as Madrid needed a spectacular injury-time equalizer from Cristiano Ronaldo to salvage a 2-2 draw at home against Valencia. Barcelona had written off its title defence after drawing 2-2 with Getafe on Saturday, but its rivals stumbles have put it right back in the hunt. Barcelona trails Atletico by three points, while Madrid was left five points behind with an extra game to play after Ronaldo deftly used the sole of his right boot to turn in a cross in the 92nd minute. "It was a tough round for all three at the top and the league is more wide open than ever," said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. "I always said it would come down to the last game." Madrids draw meant that Atletico can clinch the title if it takes four points from its last two games because it holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over Madrid if they end up level on points. Atletico hosts Malaga next weekend before finishing the season at Barcelonas Camp Nou. "Now the league is that much more interesting," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said after his teams nine-round winning run came to a halt at Ciutat de Valencia stadium. Levante pressed Atletico early and was rewarded when Papakouly Diops corner kick hit Atletico left back Filipe Luis in the chest. The ball bounced out of reach of scrambling goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois before settling into the net in the seventh. Atletico improved after bringing on substitutes Arda Turan and Adrian Lopez after halftime but conceded again when striker David Barral beat Courtois in the 69th. Far from bemoaning the setback, Simeone said that defeat was "the best thing that could happen" to his team to keep it focused on the run-in not only to the league title but also to the Champions League final with Madrid on May 24, a week after the league concludes. "Three weeks of high intensity and emotion await us," Simeone said. "This is the ideal moment for my men, for my players. We have three finals ahead of us and we have to concentrate on the first of those against Malaga next Sunday." Four days after its commanding 3-1 victory at Chelsea to reach the final of the Champions League, Atletico was brought down by the modest Levante side that has outperformed expectations thanks to coach Joaquin Caparros defensive focus and Keylor Navass goalkeeping. "We didnt want to mess up a title for anyone, I hope they (Atletico) win it," Barral said. "We want to finish the league in the best fashion we can." The match was marred at the finish by a group of Atletico fans who directed racist jeers at Diop. The player from Senegal responded by doing a dance. He later called for an end to such racist displays. Valencia arrived to the Bernabeu after its demoralizing exit from the Europa League semifinals when it conceded an injury-time goal to Sevilla on Thursday, while Madrid was flying high from its rout of Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Valencia turned to a set piece to grab the lead in the 44th when defender Jeremy Mathieu got in front of Raphael Varane inside the six-yard box to head in a corner kick. Ancelotti sent on Angel Di Maria at halftime to spark Madrids attack, and the forward lobbed a ball for Ronaldo to flick on for Sergio Ramos to nod home in the 59th and add to his two goals against Bayern. Valencia wasnt done, however, and Dani Parejo drove in a squared pass from Feghouli in the 65th after Seydou Keita had won the ball in midfield to start the move. Ronaldo then appeared to save Madrid from a costly defeat by flicking in Di Marias cross to take his league-leading tally to 31 goals this season. He reached 50 goals in all competitions for the fourth straight season. Elsewhere, Ramon Azeezs last-gasp goal gave 10-man Almeria a 3-2 win at home over relegated Real Betis to help pull his team out of the drop zone, while Sevilla drew 0-0 at home with Villarreal. cheap soccer jerseys for sale . Louis Cardinals seized their opportunity. For the Atlanta Braves, it was another night of missed chances. wholesale soccer jerseys . -- Jerome Samson scored twice, and St. http://www.cheapsoccerjerseysauthentic.us.com/ . LOUIS - Matt Adams hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the St. cheap world cup jerseys .com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs hope to pick up where they left off before the Olympic break when they visit the John Tavares-less New York Islanders in Thursdays clash at Nassau Coliseum. cheap soccer jerseys . LOUIS - Matt Adams hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the St.SAN DIEGO -- It was a rally that truly came out of left field. James Ward won 10 of the last 11 games to take a stunning five-set victory against Sam Querrey and give Britain a 2-0 lead against the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup on a temporary red clay court in the outfield of Petco Park, the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. Ward, ranked 175th in the world, was two games from losing the match when he began his rally that gave him a 1-6, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory. With dusk approaching and the lights on at the downtown baseball park, Ward won the match with an overhand smash. He leaned back, pumped his fists and hollered as his teammates, watching from one side of the court, jumped to their feet in celebration. "Its great to be around a group of guys you dont really have the support of normally, every week of the year," Ward said "Its certainly a different feeling. Youre not just playing for yourself, youre playing for everyone else." Wards victory in 3 hours, 11 minutes, followed Wimbledon champion Andy Murrays easy straight-set victory against Donald Young, who was making his Davis Cup debut. Murray has won 17 straight Davis Cup singles matches. Britain can clinch the match on Saturday if it wins doubles. Murray and Colin Fleming are scheduled to face Bob and Mike Bryan. Captains have until an hour before the match to make any changes. Murray, who had back surgery in September, said he feels good to go for doubles. Querrey, the United States No. 1 singles player in this tournament and ranked No. 49 in the world, had a 4-2 lead in the fourth set after winning the sixth game at love. But Ward rallied to win the next four games and the set to force a deciding fifth set. He jumped to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set before Querrey broke serve with a bleeder over the net to pull to 4-1. Ward then closed out the match. Ward didnt break Querreys serve until the eighth game of the fourth set to tie it at 4-4. "I thought Sam served really well from the beginning to the first three sets," Ward said. "It wasnt me returning badly. He made a lot of good serves. But in the end I got some chances and it happened." Ward improved to 9-5 in Davis Cup play. "Look, I love playing for my country," he said. "Every time I do it, it obviously brings something out in me thats a bit different, which I didnt see in the first set." He said team captain Leon Smith told him to come out of his shell. "And I did," Ward said. Ward said his parents travelleed to San Diego for the match and are staying with long-time friends.dddddddddddd "I came here when I was a kid," he said. "People always said, Where is your favourite place in the world youve been, and I have often said San Diego. Its a great place. I love being here. Again, to play a great match like today was pleasing." Querrey said he was "a little bummed obviously that I couldnt help the team. But its not over. You have to win three points. And if we can bounce back tomorrow and Bob and Mike win the doubles and then I think our side takes two on Sunday. "I thought he played well," Querrey said of Ward. "He came up with some good shots. A few break points that I had earlier, maybe if I had come through on those it could have been different. But he played well throughout the match. I started missing a few first serves when I needed them. But he did a good job of putting returns in later in the match and ended the match." U.S. captain Jim Courier said Ward played the way the Americans thought he would. "He was up, he was down, he was all over the place, but in the end he fought all the way through and the quality he showed shined through." Murray overwhelmed Young 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 in 1:38 in the opener of the World Group match. Murray was barely challenged by Young. The two-time Grand Slam winner took leads of 5-0 in the first set and 5-1 in the second set. Young never broke serve but took the sixth game of the third set to four deuces before the British star had an ace and then won when Young netted a backhand. "I played a good match today," Murray said. "I gave him very few opportunities when I was serving. I gave him a couple in the third set which was due to his good play and him playing better and me making some mistakes. But overall it was a good match for me." Murray, who had back surgery in September, said playing a relatively short match on Friday gives him a good chance of playing in the doubles match Saturday. "That obviously helps," he said. "Weekends like this you want to try conserve as much energy as you can when possible. Days can be quite long, and playing three days in a row is challenging so its good to get one three sets so we have options when we play tomorrow." In other World Group matches, France leads Australia 2-0, Kazakhstan leads Belgium 2-0, Germany is up 2-0 against Spain and Switzerland leads Serbia 2-0. The Canada-Japan, Italy-Argentina and Netherlands-Czech Republic matches are tied 1-1. cheap nfl jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '
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