MADRID, 18 May 2004 — Barcelona stepped up the pressure on Real Madrid in the race for the runners-up place in the Primera Liga after they claimed a 1-0 win at home to Racing Santander on Sunday.

The victory, which came courtesy of a Ronaldinho penalty, pushed the Catalans into provisional second place behind champions Valencia, two points ahead of archrivals Real Madrid who play relegated Murcia in Sunday’s late match.

Earlier Athletic Bilbao clinched a UEFA Cup place with a 2-1 win at Osasuna, midfielder Francisco Yeste and Ismael Urzaiz grabbing the goals in the second half.

Atletico Madrid missed a chance to move back among the UEFA Cup qualification places after a last-gasp 2-1 defeat at home to Real Zaragoza in a game preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of former Atletico president Jesus Gil who died on Friday.

At the other end of the table Barca’s neighbors Espanyol spurned an opportunity to ensure their Primera Liga survival when they surrendered a two-goal lead to lose 4-2 at Real Mallorca.

The result means Celta Vigo and Valladolid, who both lost on Saturday, have been thrown a lifeline and may yet avoid the drop if results go their way in the final round of matches next week.

Espanyol, though, can still make sure they stay up with a home win next week over Murcia, who prop up the table on 23 points.

Valladolid have 38 points, Celta 39 and Espanyol 40, with two of the three certain to join John Toshack’s side in the second division.

Ronaldinho produced another spectacular display as he guided Barcelona to their 1-0 win against Racing at the Nou Camp.

The Brazilian manufactured a penalty for his side in the 15th minute when he chased down a ball which looked to be out of play, jinked his way past one defender and then went to ground on the edge of the area after he was challenged by another.

He then sent Racing keeper Dudu Aouate the wrong way with his spot kick to take his tally for the season to 15 goals.

Ronaldinho also created a host of scoring opportunities for his teammates, the best of which saw midfielder Luis Enrique, who was playing his last home game for Barcelona, hit the bar late in the first half. But Frank Rijkaard’s side were unable to add the finishing touch to some promising attacks and had to play the final 23 minutes with 10 men after fullback Carles Puyol picked up two quickfire bookings midway through the second half.

Arminia Bielefeld Win Promotion to Bundesliga

In Hamburg, Germany, Arminia Bielefeld won promotion to the Bundesliga with a 0-0 draw at VfL Osnabrueck on Sunday.

Bielefeld, who were relegated at the end of last season, held on to second place in the second division with a game left and earned the point they needed to be certain of finishing in the top three.

Leaders Nuremberg, who lost 3-1 at home to Rot-Weiss Oberhausen on Sunday, had already secured promotion.

Alemannia Aachen, FSV Mainz, Energie Cottbus and Rot-Weiss Oberhausen will be fighting next Sunday for the remaining ticket to the Bundesliga.