MADRID: Valencia improved its chances of securing third place and automatic qualification for next season's Champions League when it won 3-0 at bottom club Almeria in La Liga Saturday. Second-half goals from in-form striker Roberto Soldado, defender Marius Stankevicius and substitute Jordi Alba sealed victory for Unai Emery's side and lifted them to 63 points. With six matches left, Valencia is nine points ahead of fourth-placed Villarreal. Almeria remains rooted to the foot of the standings, four points behind Hercules. Sevilla's bid for a berth in next season's Europa League suffered a setback when it lost 1-0 at relegation-threatened Getafe. The defeat gives Athletic Bilbao, Atletico Madrid and Espanyol a chance to climb above the Andalusians, who have 46 points, when they play Sunday. Getafe's Miku netted the only goal in the 76th minute at the Coliseum stadium on the outskirts of Madrid, firing home after the Sevilla defence failed to deal with a looping pass to the Venezuelan striker. With only nine points separating ninth from 19th in a congested bottom half of the table, Getafe climbed to 12th on 37 points ahead of Sunday's games. Malaga's Julio Baptista struck twice on his return from injury to help secure a 3-0 win at home to Real Mallorca that lifted it out of the relegation places into 17th. Hannover draws at Hamburg Hannover was left vulnerable to losing third place in the Bundesliga after being held to 0-0 at Hamburger SV Saturday. Hannover could be overtaken Sunday if Bayern Munich beats Bayer Leverkusen. “We want (to play) in the Champions League,” Hannover midfielder Sergio Pinto said. “We're now two points clear and have to wait for the Bayern game.” Elsewhere, halftime substitute Edu equalized for Champions League semifinalists Schalke in a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen, Nuremberg won 2-0 at Kaiserslautern, Roberto Firmino scored the winner as Hoffenheim beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 at home, and Stuttgart brought Cologne's seven-game winning streak at home to an end with a 3-1 win. Wolfsburg and St. Pauli drew 2-2 in a match between relegation candidates. Hannover made the better start at Hamburg. Didier Ya Konan headed a cross from Steven Cherundolo over the bar in the 8th minute, and Hamburg defender Dennis Diekmeier cleared off the line from Konstantin Rausch in the 15th. Rausch dragged a shot narrowly wide in the second half, and Mladen Petric's attempted lob drifted to the right for Hamburg. “We kept the game open and could have won with a bit of luck,” Hannover sports director Joerg Schmadtke said. Schalke, which plays Manchester United in the Champions League semifinals, dropped to 10th.
