Guardiola joy as Barca claim ‘El Clasico’
Barca may be flying away at the top of the La Liga table but coach Pep Guardiola is determined to keep his feet and those of his players firmly on the ground. The victory left them 12 points above two-time reigning champions Madrid, and eight above second-placed Valencia.
“I’m very happy to have beaten the current champions, and there is a good distance between us. But there is long way to go,” Guardiola said.
“We have only played 15 matches and there more rivals such as Villarreal, Valencia, and others.
“I know very well what it means to go to difficult grounds, and you have to take into account that in January we will be back in three competitions (La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey), which will take a lot out of us.”
Opposing coach Juande Ramos refused to accept his side had been left with an insurmountable task to overhaul Barcelona.
The champions have now lost four of their last five league games, but Ramos insists it is too early to write off his side.
“In football you need to take it game by game. The difference is considerable but there remains a lot of the league in front of us and also the form of the teams will have a big say,” said Ramos, who took over at Madrid on Tuesday after the departure of Bernd Schuster.
“Barcelona are in excellent form, but we have to wait for the second half of the season, when the Champions League returns. We’ll see then.”
The visitors battled hard throughout and, after goalkeeper Iker Casillas saved Eto’o’s 70th-minute penalty, they looked on course to claim a creditable point.
It was not to be though, as Eto’o broke the deadlock with seven minutes left, deflecting in Carles Puyol’s header, before Messi wrapped up the points with his side’s second late on.
Sevilla edged out Villarreal in a one-sided game at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan last night to leapfrog above Manuel Pellegrini’s side into third place. Renato struck the only goal on the stroke of half-time and Sevilla held on as Villarreal were reduced to 10 men as Joseba Llorente was sent off just after the interval.
In the late game last night, Atletico Madrid moved a place above their city rivals with a 2-0 victory at home to Real Betis, Maxi Rodriguez (20) and Sergio Agüero (80) grabbing the goals.
FC Twente moved to within touching distance of the Eredivisie’s top two thanks to a convincing 4-1 victory at FC Groningen yesterday.
Steve McClaren’s men went ahead through goals from Marko Arnautovic (17) and Eljero Elia (21) before Goran Lovre reduced the deficit on the stroke of half-time.
But further goals from Ronnie Stam after 68 minutes and Blaise Nkufo in the dying seconds ensured a fourth consecutive win for the visitors.
PSV Eindhoven lost ground on Twente with a 1-1 draw at Vitesse Arnhem. There were wins for leaders AZ Alkmaar, Heerenveen and NEC Nijmegen on Saturday while Den Haag drew with Roda.
HOFFENHEIM failed to make use of a two-man advantage in gaining just a draw at home to Schalke yesterday but will spend the winter break as Bundesliga leaders.
Gerald Asamoah gave Schalke the lead on 40 minutes but Sewlim equalised for Hoffenheim after 72 minutes
Bayern Munich had topped the table after picking up a point at Stuttgart on Saturday.
A last-gasp equaliser from Sami Khedira ensured the game finished 2-2 to deny the defending champions.
Bayern, who had Massimo Oddo dismissed on 85 minutes, had come from behind with second-half goals from Tim Borowski and Luca Toni after Khedira put the hosts ahead.
Bordeaux and Paul le Guen’s (right) Paris St Germain both closed the gap on Ligue 1 leaders Lyon with away wins on Saturday night.
And they were further boosted last night when Lyon drew 0-0 at home to Marseille.
Les Girondins claimed a 3-1 victory at Le Mans, while PSG enjoyed a 2-1 success over Auxerre.
Rennes missed the chance to close the gap on Lyon as they were held to a goalless draw by Nantes. Toulouse are five points off top spot after winning 3-1 against struggling St Etienne.
Juventus kept their own title hopes alive while dealing a potentially fatal blow to those of AC Milan with a thrilling 4-2 victory at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico last night.
Juve stay just six points behind leaders Inter, who beat rock bottom Chievo by the same score earlier in the day.
Brazilian Amauri scored twice for Juve while at San Siro, Inter forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic also netted a late brace, ensuring his side go into the Serie A winter break in a week’s time on top.
Napoli moved up to third with a 3-0 victory over Lecce while Roma won their fifth in a row with a come from behind 3-2 success at home to Cagliari.
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