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BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelonas title defence took a blow when it stumbled to a 1-0 defeat at Valladolid, missing the chance to move top of the Spanish standings on Saturday ahead of its Champions League clash with Manchester City at Camp Nou. Atletico Madrid took advantage of Barcelonas latest slip by winning 2-0 at Celta Vigo courtesy of David Villas two goals in a three-minute span to move ahead of Barcelona and level on points with Real Madrid at the top of the standings. Once the league pacesetter, Barcelona has won just two of its last seven away league games and trails its title rivals by one point before Madrid hosts Levante on Sunday. Lionel Messi was the only Barcelona player who looked sharp, while his teammates were plagued by uncharacteristic passing errors and again proved brittle at the back. Valladolid outplayed the defending champions early and midfielder Fausto Rossi netted the winner in the 17th minute. The relegation-threatened side then did well to protect three points against the star-studded visitors for the remainder. After its strong start this season under first-year coach Gerardo Martino, Barcelona has dropped points in five of the last nine rounds. "As long as it is mathematically possible we will keep fighting," said Martino, whose team visits Madrid in two weeks. "We are not in our best form, and we have to rediscover it within 15 days. We are worried because the league title is being decided right now." Before the clasico, however, Martino will have to regroup his team against City on Wednesday. Barcelona will be looking to protect its 2-0 lead in the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie. Valladolid started the round in the drop zone, but the big win -- only its fifth in 27 rounds -- provisionally pulled it out of danger. "Its an incredible result," said Rossi, who was at Valladolid on loan from Juventus. "All together we can save this team." Also, last-place Real Betis gave a boost to its slim hopes of staying up by beating Getafe 2-0 in Seville, while Villarreal lost 2-0 at Granada to falter in the race for fourth place. After Barcelona lost 3-1 at Real Sociedad in its last league away match, Martino aligned his best 11 available without Andres Iniesta, who didnt travel with the team for undisclosed personal reasons. Even so, Barcelona lacked its regular cool composure from the start and failed to dominate possession until it was trailing in the score. Holding midfielder Sergio Busquets, usually so sure with the ball, erred on three passes before the 25-minute mark. By that time Valladolid had threatened Barcelonas area and taken the lead when Rossi finished off a rebound after both his first attempt and Javi Guerras follow-up had hit defenders. Messis solo effort saved by goalkeeper Diego Marino in the 10th was all the visitors could muster in the first half hour. Messi, who showed no signs of his apparent vomiting from Argentinas 0-0 draw against Romania this week, used a burst of speed to break free in the 48th, only to be denied again by Marino. Messi got little help. Neymar had a quiet match and sailed his only scoring chance over the bar before he was substituted. Atletico was without suspended leading scorer Diego Costa. That meant Villa, who was dropped from Spains squad for its friendly with Italy, got the nod up front. And after a dull first half, the former Barcelona striker notched his 12th and 13th league goals of the campaign. Villa first pounced on a poor pass by Celtas Jonathan Castro, dodged Andreu Fontas last-ditch tackle, and drilled the ball beyond goalkeeper Yoel Rodriguez in the 62nd. He slotted in his second goal to seal the victory two minutes later. "Every point is important and we have to go forward game by game," said Villa. "Each game is a final and we have to win them all." Atletico hosts AC Milan on Tuesday in the last-16 of the Champions League after winning their first meeting 1-0. Betis won thanks to first-half goals from forwards Leo Baptistao and Ruben Castro to keep the hapless Getafe winless in 12 consecutive rounds and only one point from relegation. Robert Williams Jersey . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Danny Ainge Jersey ." The game can be seen live on TSN starting with Monday Night Countdown at 6:30 p.m et/3:30 p.m. pt. The Patriots, who had a bye in Week 10, will look to continue the offensive success they had a week earlier when New England scored 55 points and racked up 610 yards of total offense in a 55-31 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-shaquill...celtics-jersey/. Jets head coach Paul Maurice made the announcement Saturday following the morning skate and confirmed Al Montoya will start in goal against the Dallas Stars on Sunday. Dennis Johnson Jersey . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings. Kevin Mchale Celtics Jersey . -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest.Gary Bettman was walking down a Toronto street recently when a fan approached him.Some guy walks up to me and says, I really dont like you, the NHL commissioner recalled. And I said, But you dont know me. And he says, Yeah but I dont like work stoppages, and I go, Well neither do I, so we have that in common.Bettman will forever take a popularity hit for three lockouts during his tenure, but he wont apologize for them. Ten years after the league ground to a halt and the 2004-05 season was cancelled, he maintains it was necessary for the health of the sport.Pointing to the 04 Stanley Cup final between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Calgary Flames in which the team to score the first goal won each game of the series and contrasting that with the 2013 playoffs and its unpredictability, Bettman believes the on-ice product is better than ever.To get to this point, though, Bettman said implementing the salary cap a€” which came out of the 2004-05 lockout a€” was essential.We had teams with 80-, 90 million-dollar payrolls and we had teams with 20-million-dollar payrolls, Bettman said at a recent Canadian Club luncheon. And I would talk to the managers and coaches of the 20-million-dollar teams and go, How are you doing this? And they would say to me, to a man, We clutch, we grab, we hook, we hold and we do everything possible to neutralize skill for 50 minutes and then we try to steal the game.That is why the game as it was being played in the late 90s and early 2000s wasnt nearly as good as it is today.In his 21-plus years as the first official commissioner of the NHL, Bettman has overseen expansion, change and booming business. In the process he has also become a popular target for fans because he has shown a willingness to sacrifice games to affect the kind of change he and the owners want.The game was unhealthy, the competitiveness wasnt there, Bettman said of the 2004-05 lockout. We did what we had to do to not have six, eight or 10 years of a mess. We go through these things not because we want to but because we have to get to a point where the game can be healthy.Now that its healthy, Bettman doesnt look like an executive on the way out. When Bud Selig steps down and Rob Manfred takes over Major League Baseball, Bettman will officially be the longest-tenured commissioner in North American professional sports a€” tthough he insists because Selig previously had an interim tag that he already is.dddddddddddd will be the oldest when he steps down, said Bettman, who says he hasnt considered any kind of a succession plan. Im still trying to figure out how I got to be 62 years old.Bettman said on multiple occasions during a public interview with George Stroumboulopoulos at the Canadian Club luncheon and in a sit-down with The Canadian Press that he loves his job and the people associated with it. After he hands out the Cup each June, the New Yorker wonders What do I do with myself at night with no games? and insists he hasnt thought about how long he wants to remain in his post.Its as long as Im happy and excited and energized as I am today, Bettman said. If I ever reach the point where Im not, then I need to let somebody else do it. But its a joint decision. Its the owners and its me. But I love what I do and I come to work excited and energized every day.NFL counterpart Roger Goodell is going through a crisis period amid criticism of how he has handled domestic violence and child abuse cases in his league. NBA counterpart Adam Silver recently forced Donald Sterling to sell the Los Angeles Clippers after racist audio recordings surfaced, and the Atlanta Hawks are going through a similar process.Selig, like Bettman remembered for games not played because of the 1994 strike that cancelled the World Series, has a legacy tied to an era of performance-enhancing drugs but also introduced revenue sharing.Pending concussion lawsuits, particularly in light of the deaths of Wade Belak, Derek Boogaard and Rick Rypien, look like the NHLs biggest concern. But Bettman has pointed to the league creating concussion study groups well before the NFL or any other sports league.On the ice, Bettman called last season the best in an almost 100-year history and expects this one to be even better. On a personal level, he doesnt know when, or if, he hit his stride in this job but is proud of where the league is.The game is growing and the game both from a business standpoint and more importantly on the ice has never been healthier, Bettman said. If thats a measure of my stride, then were moving at a pretty good pace. ...Its an honour for me to be associated with the game. Theres no place else Id rather be.---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '