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MADRID, Spain -- Barcelona stumbled to a 3-2 home loss against Valencia on Saturday, giving Atletico Madrid a chance to move into sole possession of first place in the Spanish league. The Spanish champions decision not to sign a defender during the January transfer window may have backfired after Valencia took advantage of a lethargic, uninspired effort by its hosts at the Camp Nou, where former Spain coach Luis Aragones -- who previously coached the Catalan side -- was honoured after his death on Saturday. Barcelona led through Alexis Sanchezs eighth-minute goal but Dani Parejo equalized for Valencia before the break. Pablo Piatti headed Valencia ahead after the restart before Lionel Messis penalty -- and first league goal since September -- levelled the game again. But Barcelonas defence let Sofiane Feghouli burst free into the area to set up Paco Alcacers 59th-minute winner. Barcelona played with 10 men from the 78th after Jodi Alba was shown a second yellow card. The defeat means Atletico can lead the league alone for the first time this season if it does not lose at home to Real Sociedad on Sunday, when Real Madrid can also overtake its greatest rival with a victory at fourth-place Athletic Bilbao. Also on Saturday, Levante and Rayo Vallecano played to a scoreless draw, as did Getafe and Valladolid, while Malaga rallied to beat Sevilla 3-2 in an entertaining encounter. At the top of the standings, Atletico and Barcelona share 54 points, while Madrid has 53. Valencia provisionally moved into eighth. Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino was preoccupied by Barcelonas drop in play after just half an hour. "Im always worried after every one of our losses," Martino said. "Despite us having played well for a while against Valencia, Im very worried, much like the players are." Messi set up the opener after slashing a pass across the box beyond the far post where Alexis connected oddly to float it over goalkeeper Diego Alves. Valencia took control from the 44th when Parejo exploited a turnover inside the Barcelona half to lead a breakout with Feghouli, who returned a pass inside the area for Parejo to score easily. "Their goal hurt us and, in the second half, the team failed to respond," said defender Javier Mascherano, who refused to blame the off-field distractions that have enveloped Barcelona. "Today it wasnt the distractions that beat us, but Valencia. The margin of error (to be champion) is zero." Valencia went ahead in the 48th when the 1.63-meter (5-foot-3) Piatti held off Dani Alves to jump high and head a looping ball over goalkeeper Victor Valdes. Valencia was unlucky as Pedro Rodriguezs shot came off Ricardo Costa to set up the spot kick, even though it appeared Costa had no chance of getting out of the way as the ball grazed his shoulder. Messi slotted home his ninth league goal in the 54th, and first since Sept. 28 against Almeria. Barcelonas defence was dormant five minutes later as Feghouli moved past three players to the goal line before cutting back to meet Alcacer, who blasted past Valdes for the winner. Messi had a golden opportunity to draw Barcelona even in the second minute of stoppage time, but he shot wide after precisely combining with Dani Alves and substitute Andres Iniesta to get free into the box. Valencia, which was Spains most active team in the January transfer, snapped a five-game winless run to deal Barcelona its first home league defeat in nearly two years. Malaga captain and winger Duda proved the hero at Rosaleda Stadium as he took advantage of Alberto Morenos silly clearance attempt to gather inside the area and lift the winning goal past goalkeeper Beto in the 82nd. Dudas penalty put the hosts ahead after half an hour before Sevilla scored a pair of unanswered goals through Carlos Baccas 10th of the season and Federico Fazios header in the 66th. Samuel Sanchez pegged home the equalizer in the 77th as Malaga rallied for an emotional victory during which coach Bernd Schuster was red-carded in stoppage time. Malaga moved four points clear of Valladolid and the last relegation spot. Dallas Stars Jerseys . Speaking on TSN Radio 1050s TSN Drive with Dave Naylor on Monday, Colangelo said he had no intention of tanking the shortened 2011-12 season, but definitely wanted a high pick in the draft. "I wish that word wasnt used for headline reasons," said Colangelo, "but the story behind it was: how can we fix the system? How can we tweak the system to make it less likely that teams are rewarded for losing records? "I do believe that if youre as transparent as we were at the time - with our season seat holders, our fans, the market place and the media - everybody knew what the plan was and what we were going through. Dino Ciccarelli Jersey .C. -- Jackson Whistle made 26 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Kelowna Rockets blanked the visiting Lethbridge Hurricanes 5-0 on Saturday in Western Hockey League action. http://www.thedallasstarshockey.com/mike...key-jersey/.com) - The Columbus Blue Jackets rewarded starting goaltender and pending restricted free agent Sergei Bobrovsky with a four-year contract extension on Friday. Custom Dallas Stars Jerseys .com) - Sporting Kansas City announced Thursday that club has signed former on-loan midfielder Jimmy Medranda to a permanent contract from Colombian side Deportivo Pereira. Bobby Smith Jersey .J. -- Kevin Gilbride retired Thursday as offensive co-ordinator for the New York Giants.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week they discuss Andrew Albers, “Doctor” Donovan McNabb and the best and the worst of the tennis world. Bruce Arthur, National Post: My thumb is down to the retirement of Marion Bartoli, who walked away from tennis 40 days after winning Wimbledon at age 28. She said her body was done. She said Wimbledon was probably the last bit of something that was left inside her. Well, its a shame. It feels like a snap decision from someone who made tennis so much more interesting - Bartoli was a basket of intellect and indiosyncracies - starting by not bouncing the ball before she served, in a sport where so many athletes seem mass-produced. But maybe this is for the best. Shed had a rough year, and Wimbledon was a soft-schedule burst of lightning in a bottle. In the end, she left her way, which was always how she played. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is up to Andrew Albers, the 27-year-old from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, for winning the longest drive competition in major league baseball - and Im not talking golf here. Albers drove from Saskatchewan to Arizona, from Arizona to Florida - 32 hours in all - to pursue a future in baseball. The drive to Florida and some craftiness earned him a contract with the Minnesota Twins and against all odds, he began his big league journey in incredible form last week. First a shutout. Then another. He threw 17 1/3 innings before finally giving up runs and being defeated Saturday night. We have no idea how long this will last for Albers, but we do know this: this lefthander has drive. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: Yes, Rafael Nadal schooled him in the Rogers Cup final last Sunday.dddddddddddd And yes, he lost to John Isner in Cincinnati on Thursday. Still, my thumb is up to Milos Raonic. Sandwiched between those defeats, Raonic had an obscure yet significant win. Raonic beat Janko Tipsarevic in Cincinnati to run his record against the Serb to 3-0, but this was the first time he had won in straight sets. You will soon be pronouncing Tipsarevic with ease. With Viktor Troickis doping suspension, Tipsarevic will be the serbian no. 2, behind Novak Djokovic, in the Davis Cup semifinal against Canada next month. Even on Belgrade clay, a confident Raonic makes an upset possible. Brent Wallace, TSN: My thumb is down to the former Washington Redskin quarterback who wants to become the personal shrink to current Redskin quarterback Robert Griffin III. Donovan McNabb has plenty of experience after playing 13 seasons in the NFL, but that doesnt mean he needs to impart his wisdom on others in a public forum and use the excuse that hes just trying to help. On his radio show this week - McNabb - who had a very tumultuous one-year stint in Washington - said RG3 is being "brainwashed" and then added "clearly the young generation... they think they have all the answers. He is going through a little turmoil right now... trying to make it out on the field and its unfortunate." Saying those things in a public forum - whether theyre true or not - is not helping. You played the position, you should know how it works. Reach out to him quietly if you want, but dont scream it to the world. You had your time in the spotlight, now its time to let others shine and for you to fade into the background and to not keep making the story about you. ' ' '