Messi maintains Barca lead at summit
Reuters - Saturday 09 April 2011, 22:13
MADRID - Lionel Messi ensured Barcelona
maintained their eight-point lead over Real Madrid ahead of next
weekend's Clasico, scoring twice as the leaders came back to
beat basement side Almeria 3-1 in La Liga on Saturday.
The World Player of the Year equalised with a penalty and
settled the match in the last minute with his 29th league goal
of the campaign, after Thiago Alcantara had put Barca 2-1 up in
a nervous display at the Nou Camp.
Real had put them under pressure by easing through a match
that had been expected to be far tougher, when Kaka scored two
penalties and set up Cristiano Ronaldo for a third at
sixth-placed Bilbao.
Leaders Barca moved on to 84 points with seven games left to
play. Sevilla climbed to fifth with 46, one ahead of Bilbao,
after Ivan Rakitic scored a 68th-minute equaliser for a 2-2 draw
at Real Mallorca.
"Madrid are going to fight for this league until the end,
until it is mathematically impossible because this is the way we
have been educated," Real captain Iker Casillas told reporters.
Both sides rested players ahead of their Champions League
quarter-final second legs next week, when Barca visit Shakhtar
Donetsk on Tuesday with a 5-1 advantage and Real travel to play
Tottenham Hotspur with a 4-0 lead.
On top of that, Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola will have
been preparing for the first of four possible meetings between
the Spanish giants in 18 days starting with next Saturday's
league encounter.
Four days later, they have the King's Cup final in Valencia
and they look likely to meet again in the two-legged Champions
League semi-finals.
BARCA STRUGGLE
Barca struggled to create clear openings against a side they
hammered 8-0 earlier in the season, despite their almost
complete domination of possession.
They were caught out after 50 minutes when Almeria broke and
Corona beat Juan Manuel Pinto in a one-on-one to silence the Nou
Camp, but Barca quickly levelled.
David Villa, who came on for the injured Bojan Krkic in the
first half, was brought down by the slightest of touches from
goalkeeper Diego Alves as he raced into the area, and Messi
netted from the spot.
Thiago headed in from a corner after 64 minutes and with
Guardiola nervously prowling the touchline the tireless Messi
pounced on an error to settle the match with almost the last
kick.
"It was difficult because at this stage of the championship
everyone is fighting for something," Barca midfielder Javier
Mascherano told Spanish television.
"Almeria are fighting for survival, but we remained calm and
quickly equalised after their goal. The important thing is to
keep winning games and to keep our pursuers eight points behind
us."
KAKA IMPRESSIVE
Real fielded an unfamiliar looking side at San Mames with
the likes of Ronaldo, Mesut Ozil, Xabi Alonso and Ricardo
Carvalho on the bench and Pepe playing in midfield.
"You could have had doubts seeing the starting XI but you
can see Madrid has a good squad," Aitor Karanka two told a news
conference as Mourinho once again left his number two to face
the media.
"Pepe played a great game in midfield and Kaka was really
impressive."
Bilbao mounted a typical aerial bombardment of the visitors'
area but for all their pressure they created few chances and
left themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks.
One such break led to goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz upending
Argentina winger Angel Di Maria in the area, and Kaka slotted
away from the spot in the 14th minute.
Di Maria went down easily for a penalty after 54 minutes and
Kaka outwitted Iraizoz again from the spot, before releasing
substitute Ronaldo with a ball over the top.
The Portuguese cut back inside his marker with style to end
local hopes of a comeback in the 70th minute, bagging his 28th
league goal of the season.