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BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona compounded its exit from the Champions League by losing 1-0 at Granada on Saturday, letting Real Madrid move ahead into second place in the Spanish league with a 4-0 win over Almeria. Barcelonas stumble ensured the same Atletico Madrid that ousted it from Europes top-tier competition would maintain the league lead with five more rounds to go, as it was level on points with Madrid but ahead on goal difference before it visited Getafe on Sunday. Granadas Yacine Brahimi scored what proved to be the winner in the 16th minute and goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis made saves to deny Lionel Messi and Neymar amid a plethora of scoring chances that Barcelona failed to finish. Barcelona has four more days to regroup from back-to-back defeats before it plays Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey final in Valencia. "Its a step back," said Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta, whose late shot trickled by the post with Granada bunkered down in its area. "It hurts more given how few games are left. Sometimes its difficult to explain it when you lose. We did everything but score. We controlled everything else, but just couldnt finish our chances. Sometimes when the team is emitting strange vibes, this happens." With his centerbacks Gerard Pique, Marc Bartra and Carles Puyol all injured, Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino shifted Sergio Busquets into his back line and started Alex Song in midfield. It didnt take long for the shuffling to backfire, when Song lost the ball and Granada sprang a counterattack. Fran Rico quickly played Brahimi through for the forward to ride Martin Montoyas mark before he shot beyond goalkeeper Jose Pinto. "I dont think the lineup changes were decisive in a match that Barcelona should have won," Martino said. "Normally Barcelona wins this game by four or five goals. After two losses, the squad feels that something important is slipping away, but on Wednesday we must try and win the final (of the Copa)." "I cant feel good after these results, but we will keep fighting for the league. We cant confuse sadness with giving up." Barcelona peppered Granadas area with crosses and shots but went no closer in the first half than Neymars long-range attempt in the 30th that Karnezis pushed wide, while Messi tried in vain to dribble through the middle of the defence. The visitors kept pressing after the restart and Karnezis was called on to stab Cesc Fabregas volley around his post in the 54th. He then stretched to palm Messis free kick before he was well positioned to block Sergio Busquets try. Granadas Youssef El Arabi almost grabbed a second goal two minutes from time but he couldnt better Pinto one-on-one. Madrid didnt miss injured star Cristiano Ronaldo as it bounced back from its poor performance at Borussia Dortmund with a dominant victory. Angel Di Maria, Gareth Bale, Isco Alarcon and Alvaro Morata scored at the Santiago Bernabeu to keep Almeria in the relegation zone. Di Maria hit the crossbar to set the tone early and followed up in the 28th by curling in Madrids opener. Madrid toyed with Almeria until Bale scored his 14th league goal of the season from Karim Benzemas pass in the 53rd, with Isco hitting three minutes later. Morata went on to score five minutes from time. "We knew that the league would have more twists," Di Maria said. "We were behind (Barcelona) and then we were ahead, we fell behind again and now we are back in front. We know that we have to treat each remaining game as if it were the last." Also, Villarreal striker Jeremy Perbet headed in a free kick five minutes into stoppage time to snatch a 1-0 win over Levante. The otherwise dull match appeared destined to end scoreless until a late foul let Manuel Trigueros find Perbet unmarked at the near post. Villarreals win lifted it into sixth place, one point ahead of Real Sociedad after it allowed 10-man Celta Vigo to fight back twice for a 2-2 draw. 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The 49ers announced Thursday that Manningham had signed a two-year deal to join the team he helped knock out in the NFC championship game two months ago in their latest offensive upgrade at wide receiver. Jalen Ramsey Jersey . City, fielding a depleted team having already qualified, was twice pegged back by the plucky Czech champions but substitute Negredo tapped home in the 78th minute and Dzekos header made sure of victory in the 89th. The result kept City three points behind Bayern Munich ahead of their meeting in Germany in two weeks.SEATTLE – The Blue Jays arrived at Safeco Field for Wednesdays series finale against the Mariners knowing the importance of leaving the Pacific Northwest with a victory. “You dont want to get swept, period, especially by a team thats ahead of you in the standings,” said Casey Janssen. “Is it a must-win? No. Is it an important game? Absolutely. Being one game back sounds a heck of a lot better than being three.” Janssens right. The term “must win” gets thrown around too much, anyway, but there is a sweeter smell to bolting Seattle down a game to the Mariners (and two to the Tigers, who beat the Pirates on Wednesday). Being three behind Seattle would carry with it a less appealing stench. With less than 40 games to go, this is one of those swing games in the standings. “I think this is a big game for us, I really do,” said manager John Gibbons. “You dont want to come in here and get swept. They shut us down pretty good the last two games. We made a little run late last night but we came up short. Its a big game for us. Its the team we came in here tied with. Its a big game for us.” After a 15-11 July, the Blue Jays are 3-8 in August. Theyve scored only 30 runs, an average of 2.7 runs per game. Thats not going to get it done. Part of the clubs recent struggles has to do with the quality of starting pitching its faced. Toronto hung close when last years Cy Young award winner, Max Scherzer, started for the Tigers on Saturday and came back to win against relievers Joe Nathan and Joba Chamberlain. On Sunday, the Jays trailed 5-0 in the sixth against David Price but slowly chipped away, tying the game off of Chamberlain with two outs in the ninth and then winning in a franchise-record setting 19 innings. Outings against Seattles “King” Felix Hernandez on Monday and Chris Young on Tuesday were less favourable. Baseballs daily grind is a blessing to players in this respect: theres no time to cling to the sorrow of a difficult loss the night before.dddddddddddd “I feel like every time this team wins a game, we could win 10 in a row and every time we lose, it stings a lot and you wonder if youre going to be able to get out of that rut the next day or not,” said Janssen. “We played a good series against Detroit and Im sure everyone was hoping that would carry over into this series. Say what you will about 19 innings and traveling across the country, the last two games havent gone our way. Credit those guys for their pitching performances.” Entering Wednesdays action, the Tigers and Mariners were on pace to win 87 games. The Orioles, the AL East leader, stood to achieve 93 victories. The Jays need to go 27-14 to win 90 games, 24-17 to win 87. The players focus is on winning series. “If we can take two out of three the rest of the way, well be in good shape,” said Janssen. “You dont want to get into breaking down the numbers because sometimes that can seem like a taller task than take the series, take the series, take the series and see where you end up at the end of the day.” What if the Jays lose in Seattle on Wednesday? What if they get swept in front of a hometown crowd in a faraway place? “The seasons not over,” said Janssen. No Change in Rotation Despite off days on Thursday, Monday and next Thursday, John Gibbons wont be changing the order of his starting rotation. There was some thought to giving the young kids, Drew Hutchison and Marcus Stroman, some extra down time, but that wont be happening. Stroman, Mark Buehrle and Hutchison will go as scheduled beginning on Friday when the Jays open a three-game set with the Chicago White Sox. J.A. Happ and R.A. Dickey will then start in the two-game series with the Milwaukee Brewers starting next Tuesday. ' ' '