Ronaldinho overhead kick seals Barca masterclass
The Brazilian slotted home a first-half penalty and, following second-half strikes from Eidur Gudjohnsen and Andres Iniesta, put the icing on the cake with a stunning effort in the final minute.
A goal from captain Raul allowed Real Madrid to snatch a 1-0 win against Valencia at the Mestalla yesterday.
Real are now just three points behind Barca.
Atletico Madrid came from behind to claim a 1-1 draw with Real Sociedad.
Sevilla enjoyed a 3-1 win a Bilbao while Celta Vigo and Real Zaragoza drew 1-1.
Getafe and Levante finished scoreless.
Real Betis and Espanyol drew 1-1.
Serbian striker Nikola Zigic scored two and won a penalty as Racing Santander beat in-form Recreativo Huelva 4-3.
Osasuna moved out of the relegation zone after their first win in eight outings with a 4-1 destruction of Deportivo Coruna while Real Mallorca won 3-2 at basement side Gimnastic.
Inter Milan won the top-of-the-table clash in Serie A with a 2-1 victory over Palermo.
Frenchman Patrick Vieira netted the winner on the hour mark — his first Serie A goal for the club — after Carvalho Amauri equalised Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s sixth-minute effort.
Goals in either half from skipper Francesco Totti inspired Roma to a 4-2 win at Sampdoria.
Totti opened after 13 minutes with midfielder Simone Perrotta claiming the second after 33 minutes and defender Christian Panucci adding a third before the break. Totti netted his second after 74 minutes to give Roma an unequalled 30 goals scored this season.
AC Milan skipper Paolo Maldini grabbed the only goal of the game as his side beat Messina 1-0 on Saturday to help ease the pressure on underfire coach Carlo Ancelotti.
In other Serie A action yesterday, tail-enders Reggina fought back to claim a 2-2 draw against fourth-placed Livorno as Lazio won 3-1 against Ascoli.
Chievo collected their first league win, defeating Udinese 2-0. Victor Obinna scored both goals.
Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen kept up the pressure on Bundesliga leaders Schalke by recording wins on Saturday.
The German champions fought from a goal down in Hamburg as Roy Makaay (57) and Claudio Pizarro (79) scored for Felix Magath’s men.
Earlier, Rafael van der Vaart had put the home team in front from the penalty spot in the 17th minute.
Bremen looked comfortable as they sealed a 3-0 victory over Arminia Bielefeld. A first-half double (29 and 45) from Miroslav Klose and a strike by substitute Aaron Hunt sealed all three points for Bremen.
Schalke beat Bochum 2-1 on Friday night.
VfB Stuttgart beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 1-0 yesterday to move back up to third.
Hertha Berlin were gifted three points by Alemannia Aachen goalkeeper Kristian Nicht, who allowed Ashkan Dejagah (62) to score the winner. Marko Pantelic (41) gave the hosts the lead from close range before Matthias Lehmann’s strike levelled things up on the stroke of half-time.
In Frankfurt, a late strike by Ebi Smolarek rescued a point for Borussia Dortmund against Eintracht Frankfurt.
Bottom club Mainz again struggled as they were beaten 1-0 by Hannover 96 at the AWD-Arena.
In France, troubled Paris St Germain drew 1-1 with fellow strugglers Nantes yesterday.
Florent Malouda’s 25th-minute strike was enough to secure victory for leaders Lyon over Auxerre.
Sochaux climbed to third in France’s Ligue 1 after easing to a 3-1 victory at Lorient.
Anthony Le Tallec, on loan from Liverpool, struck a first-half double after Sylvain Marchal handed the home side an early lead.
Karim Ziani sealed the win for Sochaux from the spot just before the break.
Lille’s late equaliser against Monaco meant Sochaux had to settle for third place on goal difference.
Mathieu Bodmer rescued a point for Claude Puel’s Lille against struggling Monaco.
Bordeaux continued their good recent form with a hard-fought victory over St Etienne.
Sparta Rotterdam scored a 3-0 win over 10-man Ajax Amsterdam and NEC Nijmegen hit four second-half goals to sink Feyenoord 4-1 in the Dutch League on Sunday.
Ajax were reduced to 10 men after 12 minutes when Wesley Sneijder was shown a straight red card for verbal abuse.
PSV Eindhoven beat Utrecht 5-0 on Saturday.
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