Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona
If you missed watching this match, I genuinely pity you. For you missed arguably the greatest football match I have seen in well over a decade of watching football. For all the talk at the start of the possibility of Real Madrid closing the gap on Barcelona to just one point by the end of the round, Pep Guardiola's men turned on the style to, quite simply, wipe the floor with their biggest rivals.
If it were possible, the 6-2 scoreline flatters Real Madrid. They were obliterated, despite taking the lead in the 12th minute through Gonzalo Higuain's alarmingly unchallenged header. Just when you thought this might be the night, the night when the title race shifted, Barcelona stormed back to score three goals in the first half. First Thierry Henry beat the offside trap from Messi's pass to slot past Casillas, then Carlos Puyol rose to meet Xavi's free kick barely five minutes later. Then with 35 minutes gone, Xavi pounced on Lassana Diarra's dilly-dallying in his own half to release Messi, who poked home for 3-1. Diarra and Gago in the centre of midfield simply could not deal with the invention of Iniesta and Xavi. Thierry Henry tore Sergio Ramos a new arsehole. Messi, well, Messi didn't even need to be at his best to outclass Gabriel Heinze. This was unbelievable.
The most amazing thing about Barcelona's game is their passing and movement. As soon as a red-and-blue player receives the ball, he has three options for the pass. Or he can go for a run. You watch it - every time, one, two, three players. There's the pass and then the option of a one-two. The pace with which the Blaugrauna execute this tactic is astonishing. The second half followed a similar pattern. Sergio Ramos headed in for 3-2, to give the fleeting illusion that Real might make a game of it. Fat chance. Barcelona quickly re-established their dominance, Henry scoring his second of the night after Casillas came charging off his line; Messi then had all the time in the world to lash in number 5 and in the final insult Gerard Pique collected his first league goal for Barcelona after good work from Eto'o down the right. That the pichichi front-runner did not get on the scoresheet is perplexing.
What this all means is that not only have Barcelona re-established a 7-point lead at the top, they will go into the game at Stamford Bridge this week in the best possible frame of mind, having surely all but sewn up the title race. For Real Madrid, they must try and regroup, although such a debillitating defeat on their home patch, despite the impressive run under Juande Ramos, may not be enough to keep the former Sevilla man in the job, a state of affairs that typifies what an absolute basket case of a club El Real have become.
Other results:
Villarreal 0-2 Sevilla
Espanyol 3-0 Valencia
Numancia 2-0 Malaga
Racing 0-2 Almeria
Sporting 1-1 Athletic
Betis 0-2 Atletico Madrid
Mallorca 2-1 Getafe
Osasuna 1-2 Recreativo
Deportivo 1-0 Valladolid
Sevilla ended a run of four straight defeats thanks to two second half goals from their strikers Kanoute and Fabiano in Castellon. Villarreal are doing their level best to finish outside the top four, although the scoreline somewhat flatters Manolo Jiminez's men. Valencia's defeat at the Montjuic re-establishes a four point gap between third and fourth. What a transformation for Espanyol! This was their fourth-straight win, with goals coming in the second half from Martinez (four minutes after coming on), Pareja and Nene. The Valencian holy trinity, of Villa, Silva and Mata, could not breach the previously extraordinarily leaky Pericos defence. They are now up to 14th and unbeaten in six.
Atletico Madrid leapfrogged Villarreal into fifth after a routine victory at Real Betis, who despite the change of coach are still an astonishingly bad football team. Of course, without Diego Forlan, Altetico would be pretty rubbish as well, as a goal in each half from him was all that in reality separated the sides here. The Uruguyan is on 26 for the season now, just one behind Samuel Eto'o in the race for the pichichi trophy. Malaga's European aspirations were dealt a blow after their first loss in five matches away at Numancia of all places - A first win in six for the hapless Sorians courtesy of goals from Del Pino and Moreno.
Numancia remain bottom after Recreativo also won, away at Osasuna. Two goals from South African Nasief Morris and Eduardo Martin gave the visitors the win after Osasuna had led most of the match through Walter Pandiani's 10th of the season. Sporting Gijon thought they had escaped the bottom three when Mate Bilic gave them a 61st minute lead over Athletic Bilbao, only for Iraola to rescue a last minute equaliser which means Sporting are still third bottom, although they have finally managed to collect a draw this season, at the 34th time of asking. Getafe's defeat at Mallorca, through Jurado and Aduriz, means they are still perilously close the drop zone.
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