Champions Barcelona lose

MADRID:Juan Arango and Cleber Santana scored second-half goals on Sunday as Mallorca came from a goal down to beat champions Barcelona 2-1 in their first game since winning the Spanish league title.

Barcelona won the title for the 19th time on Saturday after their closest rivals Real Madrid lost 3-2 at Villarreal. Samuel Eto’o gave a depleted Barca side a 10th-minute lead with a looping header from Bojan Krkic’s cross. Arango equalised with a free kick in the 73rd and Santana headed home five minutes later to inflict Barcelona’s fourth defeat in 36 games this season.

In other matches, Real Betis, Espanyol and Racing Santander all gained victories which boosted their chances of remaining in the league next season.

Betis beat 10-man Almeria 2-0, Espanyol edged Athletic Bilbao 1-0, while Santander beat Valladolid 3-2. Numancia defeated Recreativo Huelva 1-0 in a game between two relegation candidates while Sporting Gijon finished up 2-1 winners over Malaga.

Premiership

LONDON: Steven Gerrard scored the first and set up Dirk Kuyt for the second as Liverpool beat West Bromwich Albion 2-0 to relegate the Baggies from the Premier League while Chelsea beat Blackburn 2-0 on goals from Nikolas Anelka and Florent Malouda.

Although the title race was out of reach after Manchester United clinched it on Saturday with a 0-0 draw with Arsenal, Liverpool sent out a full strength side and made it 12 victories in a row over West Brom as well as a club-record equalising 13 away wins this season.

West Brom’s 22nd defeat of the season means they remain last in the standings with 31 points. The Baggies are relegated from the Premier League for the third time in seven seasons.

Next-to-last Middlesbrough, Newcastle, Hull and Sunderland are also in danger of winding up in the other two relegation spots.

Italian Serie A

MILAN: Newly-crowned champions Inter Milan provided the display their fans wanted by beating Siena 3-0 at the San Siro on Sunday. AC Milan’s 2-1 loss to Udinese on Saturday ensured Inter would begin the match with the title already won, but goals from Esteban Cambiasso, Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic gave the fans a result to celebrate. The title is Inter’s fourth straight championship and 17th in total.

Earlier in the day, attention was on the teams at the bottom of the table. Goals in the second half from Rolando Bianchi and Alessandro Rosina gave Torino a 2-1 victory over Napoli after Pia had put his side ahead in the first half.

Bottom side Reggina gave fans hope of clambering out of the relegation with a 2-1 win to Cagliari, whilst Bologna midfielder Sergio Volpi scored a late goal to send Lecce bottom with a 2-1 win. Torino are 17th with 34 points, Bologna 18th on 33, Reggina 19th on 30 and Lecce bottom with 29. Also, it was: Fiorentina 1, Sampdoria 0; Genoa 2, Chievo Verona 2; and Palermo 2, Lazio 0. Inter lead with 81 points, Milan have 71 and Juventus are on 68, with Fiorentina just a point behind.