Barcelona’s Henry after the loss to Deportivo Coruna

Madrid: A second-string Barcelona side were beaten 0-2 at Deportivo la Coruna in the Primera Liga on Saturday.

Coach Frank Rijkaard was clearly focused on next week’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Manchester United, retaining only three starters from Wednesday’s 0-0 first-leg draw.

Juan Rodriguez and Pablo Amo took advantage of sloppy marking to put Deportivo in front in the second half as Barcelona effectively bowed out of the title race. The Catalans stay third on 61 points, one behind Villarreal and 11 adrift of leaders Real Madrid.

In Italy, Inter Milan will retain their title if they defeat AC Milan in next weekend's derby after the Serie A leaders beat Cagliari 2-1 on Sunday.

Second-placed AS Roma, six points behind Inter, made sure the title race would continue for another weekend by thrashing Torino 4-1.

Fifth-placed Milan beat Livorno 4-1, thanks to Filippo Inzaghi’s hattrick.

In England, Aston Villa twice came from behind to earn a pulsating 2-2 draw at Everton on Sunday and prolong the battle for fifth place and the Uefa Cup slot.