Spanish Premira Liga

Barcelona v/s Real Betis

1^st place met 16^th place on Saturday as Barcelona cruised to yet another home victory as they thrashed Betis 5 – 1. Perfect start for the Catalans as Henrik Larsson gave Barcelona the lead in just the 17^th minute. A terrible night for Betis defender Juan Andreu Melli as he conceded 2 own goals in the space of 3 minutes. Full credit to Ronaldinho as it was his shot on both the occasions that resulted in the own goals. Ronaldinho was rewarded for his great playing 13 minutes into the second half as he scored Barcelona’s 4th goal of the evening as the Catalans took complete control of the match. Minutes later Barca were caught napping as Joaquin Sanchez beat Victor Valdes at the near post and scored of his free kick. But Barcelona had the last laugh as substitute Lionel Messi added Barca’s 5^th goal of the night giving the Catalans their 10^th home win of the season. Barcelona maintain their 6 point lead at the top.

Real Madrid v/s Deprotivo Alaves

9 time European champions Madrid started the game in great fashion as Guti scored the opener in just 6 minutes and scorer turned provider as Robinho netted home the second with just 11 minutes gone in the game. Madrid continued pressurizing their opposition as Baptista hit the upright and the game was sealed in the 77^th minute as substitute Cicinho scored to give Madrid an impressive 3 – 0 home victory. Real Madrid are now 7 pts behind league leaders Barcelona.

Villarreal v/s Espanyol

Espanyol’s awful away form continued as they went down 4 – 0 at the El Madrigal as Villarreal eased to a 4 – 0 win. Not such a good start for Villarreal as they were without captain Juan Riquelme but in the 24^th minute they got the all important breakthrough as former Juventus midfielder Alessio Tacchinardi opened the scoring and he soon turned provider for winger Marcos Senna. Villarreal were 3 goals to the good thanks to their leading goal scorer Diego Forlan who scored his 11^th of the season. A late goal from substitute Hector Font gave Villarreal an emphatic win. This win is crucial as it is an immense boost ahead of their Champions League match against Rangers.

Valencia v/s Real Sociedad

3 points in this game would mean that Valencia would retain their 2^nd spot in the table and they did just that. But they were not of to the best of starts as the conceded a goal in the 3^rd minute, Morten Skoubo scored the goal. Valencia proved to be too strong for Sociedad as they were bombarded with shots from their opposition and the equalizer finally came from SuperSub Reguiro as he scored on the 70^th minute. Valencia eventually won the game as they scored their second on the 77^th minute, giving them all 3 points. Reguiro was the goal scorer again as he rounded the keeper off and slotted the ball home. This has been Real Sociedad’s 5^th defeat in 7 away games.       

La Liga Table

                                                                             Played                      Pts