Gonzalo Higuain’s hat-trick fired Real Madrid back to the top of La Liga on Sunday after three sublime goals from his Argentina teammate Lionel Messi had briefly lifted Barcelona back above their arch-rivals.
The Spanish giants, level on 65 points from 26 matches, pulled further away at the top as Barca defeated third-placed Valencia 3-0 at the Camp Nou and Real Madrid romped to a 4-1 victory at struggling Real Valladolid in the late kickoff.
Real led champions Barca on goal difference and Valencia were 18 points back on 47. Sevilla, who drew 1-1 with Deportivo Coruna on Saturday, were fourth on 44.
PHOTO: REUTERS
After a draw and a defeat in their previous four La Liga matches, Barca needed a convincing performance at the Camp Nou to get their title defense back on course and again it was league top scorer Messi who made the difference.
The European champions found it difficult to exert their customary dominance in a goalless first half before Messi weaved through the Valencia defense in the 56th minute and fired a low shot past goalkeeper Cesar Sanchez.
Substitute Thierry Henry then set Messi up for his 21st and 22nd goals of the campaign.
The first came after Messi cut in from the right and curled the ball into the far corner and the second from a dinked effort that left Sanchez on the seat of his pants.
“Messi is the best player in the world and makes everything easier,” assistant Barca coach Tito Vilanova, on the bench in place of the suspended Pep Guardiola, told a news conference.
A trademark Cristiano Ronaldo free-kick set Real on their way in the 28th minute in Valladolid before Higuain scored his 17th, 18th and 19th goals of the campaign.
A mistake from goalkeeper Iker Casillas gifted relegation-threatened Valladolid a goal in the 58th when the Spain captain’s attempted clearance ricocheted into the net off Real defender Raul Albiol.
Barca and Valencia were both missing their leading strikers with Zlatan Ibrahimovic suspended after his sending-off in Almeria and David Villa sidelined with a shoulder injury.
In earlier matches, a goal in each half from Joseba Llorente and Damian Escudero gave Villarreal a 2-0 home win over bottom side Xerez.
Tenerife notched up only their sixth win of the campaign, beating visiting Espanyol 4-1, relegation-threatened Racing Santander and Real Zaragoza drew 0-0 and a Fernando Soriano strike gave Almeria a 1-0 home victory over Malaga.
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