Barcelona and their new Ballon D’Or victor Lionel Messi moved five points clear of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with goals from Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic sealing a 2-0 win at Xerez on Wednesday.
Barca built on their 1-0 win over foes Real in Sunday’s Clasico and piled more pressure on their rivals in a rearranged league fixture to accommodate their participation at the FIFA World Club Cup in Abu Dhabi in the middle of the month.
France international Henry headed the opener 58 seconds into the second half, before substitute Ibrahimovic scored his ninth goal of the season with a delightful chip in the final minute.
Messi came on as a substitute and hit the post, before setting up Ibrahimovic’s goal.
Champions Barca are also in league action tomorrow at Deportivo La Coruna, while Real host Almeria.
Barca coach Pep Guardiola rang the changes, with Ballon D’Or winner Messi, who won the award on Tuesday at a canter, starting on the substitutes’ bench.
Messi was joined by first teamers Andres Iniesta, Ibrahimovic, Gerard Pique and captain Carles Puyol, while Sergi Busquets was suspended following his dismissal against Real.
Nevertheless, there was enough quality on show with Thierry Henry, Dani Alves and Xavi, voted third in the Ballon d’Or, to test a Xerez side that had been thrashed 5-1 by Getafe last time out.
With key inventive players missing, Barcelona struggled to create chances and it was not until the 25th minute that they looked like scoring when Frenchman Henry shot over the bar from an acute angle.
Two set-pieces provided the best first-half opportunities, with Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure, who recently expressed his disappointment at not being in the first team, wasting a golden chance as the ball ricocheted off his chest to goalkeeper Renan Brito.
Barca had drawn their last three league matches, but Guardiola didn’t panic with the score 0-0 at the interval and 59 seconds into the second half the breakthrough came.
Brazilian leftback Maxwell broke down the flank and stood a cross up for Henry to glance a header in off the underside of the crossbar. It was Henry’s first goal since his controversial handball helped France eliminate the Republic of Ireland in their World Cup playoff and he celebrated wildly.
Xerez were frustrated at conceding so early and then had to deal with the sight of Messi warming up on the touchline.
Messi replaced Pedro Rodriguez on 55 minutes to give Barca more trickery going forward, but Xerez recovered well from the goal setback and a fantastic counterattack almost provided the equalizer just after the hour mark, but a poor touch from striker Mario Bermejo saw the move break down.
Xerez had only scored four goals in the league, but were looking threatening and Guardiola threw on Ibrahimovic for Bojan Krkic.
Messi showed why he is regarded as the best player on the planet with a great run and backheel to wow the crowd and set up Alves, but the Brazilian’s cross was scrambled to safety.
Messi hit the post late on and Iniesta missed a sitter, but they didn’t prove costly as Ibrahimovic chipped in a late second.
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