Barca get back to winning ways

IT was a happy new year restart for the two Catalan clubs, Barcelona and Espanyol, second and third in the league behind Real Madrid, as they both won crucial games.

Barcelona had to beat Mallorca after losing to Real Madrid in their previous match just before Christmas. This is always a tricky away fixture, and it took them over an hour to score through Rafael Marquez, with the second from Samuel Eto’o coming only in the 91st minute.

“It wasn’t an easy game for us,” said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard. “They didn’t give us space and let us pass the ball as we do normally. We always want to stick with our philosophy of playing attractive football, but at this stage of the season it’s clear that results and points are more important.”