Barcelona suffer rare reversal

PRIMERA LIGA: Barcelona suffered a rare defeat in the Spanish championship last night when they went down away to Osasuna.

Valdo opened the scoring for Osasuna in the 21 first minute before Francisco Puna converted a penalty in the 59th minute to extend their lead.

A Henrik Larsson strike in the 70th minute was scant consolation for the reigning champions who had both Edmilson and Thiago Motta sent off.

They are, however, still nine points clear of second-placed Real Madrid who on Saturday drew 0-0 with third-placed Valencia, who are below Real by virtue of goal difference alone.

Substitute Ronaldo spurned the chance to win the game when he missed a last-minute penalty after he had been fouled by Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares, who guessed right and saved the Brazilian's poorly taken shot.

SERIE A: Juventus moved closer to retaining their Italian title after a goalless draw with AC Milan in a top-of-the-table clash last night. Juventus have 74 points from 29 matches, 10 more than Milan, who have just nine matches to reel in the champions.

Milan created more chances to score but finished with 10 men after the 69th-minute sending-off of midfielder Gennaro Gattuso.

AS Roma's bid for a place in next season's Champions League suffered a setback when they slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Ascoli.

Roma, who set a record of 11 Serie A wins in a row last month, were 3-0 down at half-time and despite a Rodrigo Taddei strike and an own goal by Gianluca Commotto failed to get back on terms with their mid-table opponents. The result left Roma fifth on 55 points from 29 matches.

Fiorentina, in the fourth Champions League berth, are one point ahead and have a game in hand after their match at Cagliari's Sant'Elia stadium was abandoned because of strong winds.