MADRID - IN-FORM Espanyol boosted their survival hopes and at the same time put a huge dent in Valencia's Champions League hopes with a convincing 3-0 victory on Sunday.

Second half goals from Roman Martinez, Nicolas Pareja and Nene made it 16 points from 18 for Espanyol who climb four points above the relegation zone.

For Valencia it was a major setback as they missed a golden opportunity to pull away from Villarreal, a point behind in fifth, who lost 2-0 against Sevilla on Saturday.

A few weeks ago Espanyol looked destined for the second division but Argentine coach Mauricio Pochettino has found the magic formula at the right time with five wins and a draw in the last six matches.

It was good news for Atletico Madrid who can close to within a point of Valencia with victory at Real Betis later on Sunday. Deportivo La Coruna are still in with an outside shot of Champions League football defeating Valladolid 1-0 on Sunday to move three points behind Valencia.

New Getafe coach Michel tasted defeat in his first match in charge losing 2-1 to Real Mallorca on Sunday to leave the club staring relegation in the face.

A disastrous mistake from Serbian goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic, on loan from Portugueses giants Sporting Lisbon, gifted Mallorca the winning goal on 68 minutes with Aritz Aduriz pouncing on his slack goalkick to slot home.

'At 1-1 the game we were on top and wanted to win it but then this incident (the mistake from Stojkovic) cost us the match,' bemoaned Michel.

Last season Getafe were jostling with Bayern Munich in the Uefa Cup and lost to Valencia in the Kings Cup final but they currently lie fourth from bottom. Getafe sacked Victor Munoz on Monday after three successive defeats but a new coach did not bring a change of fortune.

Michel won six league titles as a player with Real Madrid and is not used to fighting relegation and has little time to adapt with just four games left to save the club from the drop. -- AFP