Samuel Eto'o contributed two goals as Barcelona won their first away game in La Liga for four months with a 4-0 thrashing of Recreativo Huelva on Saturday.
The reigning Spanish champions stay on course for their third successive league title and have a three point lead over nearest rivals Sevilla, although the UEFA Cup winners have a game in hand.
However, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard demonstrated the old adage that some people are never happy, despite the emphatic victory.
PHOTO: AP
"I'm happy with the result but not the way we played. The early goal changed the plans and facilitated our victory but we didn't play well," the Dutch coach told a surprised audience at the post-match press conference.
"Deco and [Andres] Iniesta had a good game but we were fortunate to score at opportune moments. Nevertheless, winning away after four months is important," Rijkaard added.
Barca were quickly out of their blocks with Eto'o scoring just three minutes into the game.
He spotted Recreativo goalkeeper Javier Lopez Vallejo out of position and found the net with a long, looping shot from 30m.
Gianluca Zambrotta got his first league goal for Barca six minutes before the break when he chipped the ball past Lopez Vallejo from the corner of the six yard box following a pass by Deco.
Eto'o then added his second goal four minutes later and Lionel Messi completed Barca's quartet four minutes from time to give the Catalan club their best away victory in any competition this season.
The Argentine teenager sped past Recreativo's hapless defenders before unleashing a left foot shot from the edge of the area.
"This win is very important. We've not won away from home for so long," Messi said.
Sevilla had a good chance of beating struggling Celta Vigo yesterday, but they now have an acutely inferior goal difference to Barca.
Third-placed Valencia squandered their chance to close the gap on the leading pair in the Spanish first division when they went down 2-0 at home to Racing Santander earlier on Saturday.
Pedro Munitis put Racing in front after 20 minutes, finding the net from the edge of the six yard box following a pass by Nicola Zigic, and Oriol Lozano sealed the victory with a header from a Munitis corner after 63 minutes.
SSC Napoli will have to wait one more week to seal the Serie A title after on Sunday being held to a goalless draw at Parma, while closest rivals Inter drew 2-2 in a dramatic game with SS Lazio. Antonio Conte’s team stayed one point ahead of Inter and were unfortunate not to win after twice striking the woodwork through Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa and Matteo Politano, while Scott McTominay also had a free-kick tipped onto the crossbar. The away side thought they would be handed a chance to take the points from the penalty spot in the 96th minute when David Neres
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS