first shot on goal came with 5:50 left in the first period and drew a

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. Stan Smith Uomo Saldi . 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. Stan Smith Italia . It was just time for him to make a big play. Nicolas Batum had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, and the Trail Blazers overcame poor-shooting nights by two of their best players in a 94-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. Stan Smith Scontate Uomo . Kuper, a fifth-round pick in Denvers 2006 draft, started 79 games at guard over eight seasons. He dislocated his left ankle in the last game of the 2011 regular season, and though he started another seven games after that, he never returned to his previous level. http://www.stansmithscontate.it/ . Neither player was available Saturday for the Knicks 107-98 loss in Atlanta. "Were going in a different direction and weve got to figure out another spot or two for our ballclub," coach Mike Woodson said before the game.BUFFALO, N.Y. - Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog and Ryan OReilly each had a goal and an assist to lead the Colorado Avalanche to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday night. Paul Statsny also scored and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 28 saves for the Avalanche, who bounced back from their first loss of the season against Detroit on Thursday. Cody Hodgson and Marcus Foligno scored for Buffalo, which got more than one goal for only the third time in 10 games this season. The Sabres remained winless in six home games after finishing up a stretch of four games in six days. The Avalanche scored four times in the first 32 minutes and that was more than enough against a Sabres team that has not scored that more than three regulation goals in a game this season. Foligno gave the Sabres some hope 1:05 into the third period, getting the rebound of Henrik Tallinders shot and lifting the puck over a fallen Giguere to cut Colorados lead to 4-2. The Sabres outshot the Avalanche 16-4 in the third period, but could not find the back of the net. A flurry of three close-range shots with just under six minutes left in the game were all blocked by Avalanche defenders. Statsny scored his first goal of the season to give the Avalanche a 4-1 lead 8:34 into the second period. Hodgson put Buffalo on the board 5:31 into the second, streaking up the right side and striking a slap shot from the top of the circle past Giguere. Scarpe Stan Smith Outlet. Duchene took a pass from OReilly in front of the net and converted a power play 56 seconds into the second period to make it 3-0. Landeskog gave Colorado a 2-0 lead with 8:03 left in the first period, weaving up centre ice on a delayed penalty and beating Ryan Miller with a wraparound. The Avalanche scored before the Sabres could get a shot on goal when Duchene came from behind the net and fed OReilly on the left side of the crease at 8:44 of the first period. The Sabres first shot on goal came with 5:50 left in the first period and drew a loud ovation from the crowd. Colorado outshot Buffalo 14-3 in the first period. It was the second time this season the Sabres have managed just three shots in a period. NOTES: Buffalo added rookie D Nikita Zadorov to the active roster Saturday and sent fellow first-round pick D Rasmus Ristolainen to AHL Rochester. Zadorov can play up to nine games with the Sabres before activating his entry-level contract. . Colorado rookie C Nathan MacKinnon, the first overall pick in this years draft, will face fellow Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby for the first time Monday when the Avalanche play in Pittsburgh. . Miller made 22 saves for Buffalo. ' ' '