It was the game that could decide the league title. First place Real Madrid played host to a second place Valencia side that had already beaten the Galácticos earler in the season. The two Spanish giants are perfect foils. Madrid being the big-spending superclub with world-renowned footballers in nearly every postion and Valencia the talented but lowkey team that manages to keep winning despite the fact no one can name their top-striker--it's trick question: they haven't really had one since Claudio Lopez was sold to Lazio. h3. Valencia Ganó Despite the advantage of playing in a packed Bernabeu, Real Madrid were completely outclassed on the day. Valencia played a classical away game, hammering Madrid's Zidane-less midfield with waves of pressure and then quickly breaking on the counterattack when the oppourtunity arose. With Pablo Aimar applying a man of the match performance, Valencia always looked the more potent side. The Ciberche formation consistently recuperated and advanced the ball through the talented likes of David Beckham or Roberto Carlos. It was just a matter of time before Valencia's disciplined performance would exploit a Madrid mistake and thus Roberto Ayala put a bullet header into the home team's net on the 74th minute. Job done, the visitors then expertly salted away the remaining time and had earned back the league lead from their defeated opponents. But then, in injury time, an innocuous lob into the Valencia penalty area made a sham of the whole match and stripped the visitors' of their masterful performance. h3. Tragedia de la Pena As far as match-ending penalties go, the culminating incident of this match is in a class all by itself. In a case of jaw-dropping folly, the referee's assistant had judged centerback Carlos Marchena to have fouled Real's Raul just inside the box. The actual contact involved Raul backing into Marchena just as much as the Valencia man was jostling him for position. It was a soft decison by any standard--it was practically a love-tap by British standards for a jump ball. It's sad, but how can Spanish football ever get beyond the notion that Real Madrid get all the breaks when they consistenly do earn spectacularly unwarranted advantages. I'm not saying that there is any conspirancy amongst Spanish officials, but the penalty was a gift brought about by a linesman that I can only believe crumbled under the strain of the Galácticos' reputations. I know Raul is a demi-god in Spain, but must the sight of him flopping on the pitch force so many fainthearted referee's to adjudicate in his favour? Valencia won this match. Tragically though, it won't be reflected in this season's final league standings.