Levante UD continued to defy their humble status as Valencia’s second club when they beat Real Betis Balompie 3-1 to reclaim fourth place in La Liga on Monday.
Athletic Bilbao and Malaga leap-frogged Levante with victories at the weekend that lifted both clubs to 37 points from 25 matches, with Bilbao climbing into Spain’s fourth Champions League qualification berth on goal-difference and Qatar-owned Malaga to fifth.
Victory over Betis at their Estadio Ciutat de Valencia put Levante back in fourth on 38 points, five behind city rivals Valencia, who won 1-0 at Granada on Sunday.
Photo: AFP
Midfielder Jose Barkero set Levante on their way with a 34th-minute free-kick and a Xavi Torres header made it 2-0 in the 42nd minute.
Betis pulled a goal back two minutes later when Jorge Molina made the most of a defensive error to fire past Gustavo Munua before Arouna Kone sped clear to score six minutes after the break and make it 3-1.
Levante, the season’s surprise packages, have one of the oldest squads in the Spanish top flight and an annual budget of only 20 million euros (US$26.5 million), compared with Real Madrid’s almost 500 million euros.
They beat Real 1-0 in September and briefly topped the standings, before falling out of form and slipping down the table.
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