Soccer: Barcelona continue to slide

BARCELONA continued their slide into mid-table obscurity after slumping to a 3-0 defeat away to a lively Racing Santander in the Primera Liga last night.

The Catalans paid a heavy price for failing to cash in on their early domination and Racing took full advantage of some nervous keeping by Turkish international Rustu Recber to score three times in the second half.

The defeat leaves Frank Rijkaard's side in 12th place in the table, 18 points down on leaders Real Madrid, who edged a 1-0 win at home to Murcia on Saturday.