Barca undone by the Real deal
Both sides opted for their own versions of 4-3-3, Barcelona starting with Carles Puyol rather than Gianluca Zambrotta as an attacking right back and Andres Iniesta rather than Thierry Henry partnering Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldinho up front.
Madrid opted for the strength of Julio Baptista on the left side of midfield and it was a move that paid off after 35 minutes after a superb save by Iker Casillas from Ronaldinho had prevented the home side from going in front.
It was a goal signed ‘Premier League’, as the ex-Manchester United forward Ruud Van Nistelrooy set up the former Arsenal man for a superb right-footed finish, which flew into the top corner.
Van Nistelrooy could have more or less sealed the game on the hour, but wasted the chance with strike partner Raul completely free by the right hand post.
Barca’s new young star Bojan Krkic almost equalised as he came on as a substitute with 10 minutes left and in the dramatic closing moments there might have been goals at both ends before Madrid emerged as victors, to the utter dismay of a capacity Camp Nou crowd.
In the other Madrid-Barcelona clash – Atletico against Espanyol – it was Catalonia that came out on top.
Goals from Raul Tamudo and Luis Garcia wiped out Simao’s first-half strike. Espanyol were the better side from the start and were unlucky to be behind at half-time but the match was also heavily influenced by two red cards for the home side.
Atletico’s young Argentinian forward Sergio Aguero was dismissed on the half-hour for throwing a punch at Espanyol centre back Marc Torrejon. Then full-back Maranio Pernia received a second yellow, just nine minutes into the second half.
The win lifted Espanyol into third place ahead of both Atletico and Villarreal, who could only draw 1-1 at home to Recreativo. Last season’s UEFA Cup finalists are certainly in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.
The UEFA Cup holders Sevilla also produced another good performance, beating Racing Santander 4-1 at home and moving above both Mallorca and Zaragoza into eighth place.
Just ahead of them are Valencia, whose 2-2 result at Zaragoza was as much as they probably hoped for after their recent bad run at home and in Europe.
Valencia’s other club Levante already look doomed to relegation. They have accumulated just seven points from 17 games, and currently languish 10 points behind Deportivo who inflicted more misery with a 1-0 victory yesterday.
INTER’S Argentinians once again did the business for the Italian champions as Julio Cruz and Esteban Cambiasso scored after Andrea Pirlo had put Milan a goal up in yesterday’s derby.
The game was sealed by another howler from Milan’s accident-prone keeper Dida.
The win restores Inter’s seven-point advantage over Roma, 2-0 winners over Sampdoria, at the top of Serie A while Milan are now just four points off a relegation spot, but they have three games in hand.
Juventus continued their good league run with a 2-0 win against Siena and stay in third place, while Fiorentina moved back to fourth after a badly-needed confidence boost — a 5-1 win against bottom Cagliari, with two goals from Adrian Mutu.
THE 1-1 draw between Nancy and Lyon was the weekend’s big match.
Both goals came in the last 10 minutes on a foggy, freezing night, with the home side more than deserving their equaliser against the league leaders. But a point was also a good result for Lyon, who were missing five first-team players because of injury and were without the suspended Brazilian Juninho.
Marseille secured an important 1-0 win at home against Le Mans, and Bordeaux remain in contention with a 1-0 win at Sochaux.
But the current success story in France is Caen, who now have recorded five wins and a draw in their last six matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding just one.
Their 2-0 win moved them up to fourth. Six matches ago they were in 16th.
A SHOCK 2-1 defeat for Ajax at Excelsior – a side more used to shipping goals against the top clubs – was the key result of the weekend.
PSV’s 4-1 win against Utrecht on Saturday – with two goals for Danish striker Kenneth Perez – gave them the leadership overnight, but Ajax would have returned to the top had they won. Instead Feyenoord moved into second spot, thanks to a double from striker Jonathan de Guzman.
Herenveen – 5-1 winners away to NAC last week – could have done with a couple of those goals yesterday but instead went down 2-1 at home to Twente and thus missed the chance of overtaking Ajax and claiming third spot.
AZ ended a bad week with a 1-1 draw against Roda, just three days after losing to Everton and going out of the UEFA Cup.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
