Brilliant Eto’o goal puts Barca on track
The African player of the year notched up his 22nd goal of the season when he cracked a stunning first-time shot into the far corner to break the resistance from a stubborn Albacete. Messi added a second with a delicate chip in the final minute.
With four games left to play Barca have 78 points, Real follow on 72, a distant 15 ahead of Sevilla who defeated Deportivo Coruna 2-0 in Spain’s late match last night.
Earlier Villarreal got their bid for a Champions League place back on track by crushing Getafe 4-0 at home to notch up their first win in five games. Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan took his tally for the season to 20 goals with two strikes, while Juan Pablo Sorin and Santi
Cazorla added the others.
On Saturday, a late double strike by Ronaldo gave Real Madrid a flattering 2-0 victory at Real Sociedad. He grabbed his first when he raced on to an excellent ball from Guti and slotted the ball into the net seven minutes from time. He then benefited from another great pass from the midfielder as the Brazilian back-heeled the ball across the line to snatch a second.
Valencia missed their chance to gain the edge in the race for a Champions League place with a 1-1 draw against relegation-bound Numancia while Atletico Madrid and Athletic Bilbao saw their hopes of claiming a place in Europe fade as they fought out a 1-1 draw at the Calderon.
In Italy, Juventus beat Bologna 2-1 yesterday to draw level with AC Milan at the top of Serie A, seven days before the two title-chasers meet in a crunch Scudetto showdown at the San Siro.
Milan threw down the gauntlet to Juventus by winning by the same score at Fiorentina on Saturday, with Andriy Shevchenko on target twice. Juventus responded with an equally narrow victory in Turin. Juventus and Milan both have 76 points from 34 matches played with four games left.
Juve defender Fabio Cannavaro, currently at the centre of a new drug scandal in Italy, opened the scoring in the 18th minute, leaping high at the back post to head home Mauro Camoranesi’s right-wing cross. Juventus increased their lead six minutes later with an almost identical goal, but this time it was Marcelo Zalayeta’s head that supplied the finish.
Federico Giunti’s curling free-kick reduced the arrears for Bologna in the 27th minute, but the visitors rarely looked like leaving the Delle Alpi stadium with a point.
Inter Milan strengthened their position in third place with a 2-0 home win over struggling Siena at the San Siro where an early Julio Cruz penalty and a Christian Vieri header secured the points.
Udinese reclaimed fourth after a 2-1 home win over bottom club Atalanta, while Sampdoria fell one place to fifth following their 2-2 draw at Messina.
Vincenzo Montella missed a late penalty as Roma failed to ease their relegation fears with a 2-2 home draw against fellow strugglers Brescia.
UEFA Cup semi-finalists Parma won a 10-goal thriller at home to Livorno that moved them out of the drop zone.
Alberto Gilardino scored four goals for Parma and Cristiano Lucarelli did the same for the visitors in a 6-4 victory for the Emilia Romagna club. Tommaso Rocchi netted a hat-trick for Lazio, but still ended up a loser
as the Rome side went down 5-3 at Lecce.
Bayern Munich embarked on a beer-soaked celebration on Saturday after a Roy Makaay hat-trick and Schalke 04’s draw sealed their 19th German championship.
“We’ve played brilliantly all season and proved we’re the best team in the league,” said Michael Ballack, captaining the side in the absence of injured goalkeeper Oliver Kahn. “It’s just a shame that Olli is not here with us, but there’ll be more time to celebrate later.”
Bayern needed to beat Kaiserslautern and hope for Schalke to drop points at home to Bayer Leverkusen to be certain of their fifth title in seven years.
They resolved their side of the equation easily, as Ballack’s drilled early goal was followed by three classy strikes from Dutch international Makaay.
Bayern huddled on the pitch at the Fritz-Walter stadium to wait for Schalke’s 3-3 draw to be confirmed before starting their celebrations.
From nowhere, huge two-litre glasses were produced and the Bayern players spent the next hour alternately gulping down Bavarian wheat beer and pouring it over themselves, coach Felix Magath and even the presenter of the TV coverage.
Ajax Amsterdam cruised to a 4-1 win at RBC Roosendaal on Saturday and need six more points to secure second spot in the Dutch first division and a place in the third qualifying round of next season’s Champions League.
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