The Spanish league race, one of the most memorable in history, produced more dramatics on Saturday when all three games involving the title contenders ended in ties.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, Lionel Messi and Raul Tamudo played starring roles with two goals apiece in key games.
Real Madrid, the leader by virtue of its edge in the tiebreaker with Barcelona, needed a last-minute goal from its Dutch scoring ace, van Nistelrooy, to tie Real Zaragoza, 2-2, on the road. Van Nistelrooy’s goal — his second of the game — gave him 26 league goals for the season, tied with Roma’s Francesco Totti for the most in a major European league.
It looked like Barcelona would take a three-point lead into the last day of the season, but Raul Tamudo scored with 25 seconds remaining to give neighbor Espanyol a 2-2 tie with Barca, leaving the defending champion tied with Real Madrid going into the final day.
Messi lived to his billing as the second coming of Diego Maradona. This spring, the young Barcelona star had scored a goal similar to the brilliant second goal Diego Maradona scored against England in the quarterfinals of the 1986 World Cup. On Saturday, Messi emulated his hero with a goal similar to Maradona’s first goal against England — the famous Hand of God. Messi lifted up his left arm to nudge a ball lofted by Gianluca Zambrotta into the net just before halftime.
Real Madrid wins its 30th La Liga title if it beats Real Mallorca next Sunday at home. Barcelona must do better in its game at relegated Gimnastic Tarragona than Real Madrid does against Mallorca.
Sevilla missed a chance to pull even with Madrid and Barcelona when it could only manage a 0-0 tie at Real Mallorca. Sevilla, still two points behind the leaders, hosts Villarreal on Sunday.