Debt-ridden Valencia watched their Champions League cash lifeline slip further away on Sunday when a 2-1 defeat to relegation strugglers Numancia left the troubled club six points off the top four.
It was a ninth defeat of the season for Valencia, who continue to be poor travelers and have failed to win away from home since the beginning of November.
Valencia have been unable to pay their players on time because of acute financial problems and after a great start their league form has dipped and they are not even in the European spots after falling to eighth.
“The only way to come out of this is through hard work,” Valencia coach Unai Emery said. “We need to get back to winning ways — starting now.”
Valencia had to do without 19-goal top-scorer David Villa because of a knee injury, but were favorites against a Numancia team that were propping up the table before kick-off.
Winger Vicente put Valencia in front after just nine minutes, but Numancia replied through Carlos Aranda shortly before halftime.
A Jose Bakero free-kick just after the break then put Numancia ahead and they held on for a first win in two months.
Numancia move off the bottom at the expense of Espanyol and closed in on third from bottom Osasuna, who lost 2-1 to Sporting Gijon.
Deportivo La Coruna took advantage of Valencia’s slip with a 5-3 win over Racing Santander to climb to within three points of Villarreal, who are in fourth place.
“In the first half we made the mistake of doing exactly what they wanted,” Deportivo coach Miguel Angel Lotina said. “We changed our method of attacking in the second half [when they scored four goals] and it helped us to win the game.”
Promoted Malaga are level on points with Deportivo after beating Getafe 2-1 to maintain their surprise European push.
Sevilla look a good bet for the Champions League following a 2-1 home win over Almeria as they bounced back from their midweek Kings Cup semi-final defeat to Athletic Bilbao.
Freddy Kanoute and Renato provided the goals for Sevilla, who survived a late onslaught after Alvaro Negredo reduced arrears from the penalty spot with 20 minutes left.
Sevilla stay third, five points better off than Villarreal and eight points ahead of Deportivo.
However, Argentine winger Diego Perotti said Sevilla were looking up at Real, seven points ahead in second, rather than what is going on behind them.
“We wanted to put pressure on the teams above us with these three points,” Perotti said. “We can try to catch Real if we continue like this.”
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