Barcelona geared up for next weekend's Gran Clasico with an incredible 0-8 win over Almeria at the Juegos Mediterraneos. It was the first time in fifty years that Barca have won by such a comprehensive score line. Almeria president Alfonso Garcia was so incensed that he sacked manager Juanma Lillo on the spot just minutes after the final whistle. Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick, Bojan came off the bench to grab a double and the other goals came from Andres Iniesta, Pedro and a Santiago Acasiete own-goal.
Despite that phenomenal result, it was not enough to put Pep Guardiola's men top of La Liga, as Real Madrid responded with a 5-1 thumping of Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu. Athletic started well and could have been ahead early on but Jose Mourinho's men weathered the storm and eventually won comfortably thanks to Gonzalo Higuain's opener, a Sergio Ramos penalty and a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick. Fernando Llorente continued his fine scoring run with Athletic's only goal just before half time. Real lead Barcelona by one point heading into next Monday's showdown and it promises to be an exhilarating spectacle for a global audience.
Earlier on Saturday night, Villarreal and Valencia lost further ground on the top two as they played out a 1-1 draw at the Madrigal. Unai Emery set his team out to defend with five at the back and they nicked an early lead thanks to a clever flick from Aritz Aduriz. Villarreal were the better team throughout, though, and they deserved their second half equaliser from Giuseppe Rossi. They could have won the game after Marius Stankevicius' red card gave them a big advantage in the last ten minutes but Valencia held on for a draw to increase the gap between second placed Barcelona and third placed Villarreal to seven points.
Deportivo La Coruna’s five man defence has become very hard to break down and it served them well on Sunday as they beat Malaga 3-0 at the Riazor. The scoreline flattered Miguel Angel Lotina’s team slightly, but Manuel Pellegrini’s side suffered for their weakness at defending set-pieces. Adrian, Diego Colotto and Pablo Alvarez scored the goals which condemned Malaga to another week in the relegation zone.
Meanwhile, former Malaga striker Felipe Caicedo put in a superb display to help Levante to a 3-1 victory over Racing Santander at the Ciutat de Valencia. Two first half goals from the Ecuadorian followed by a direct red card to Racing left back Domingo Cisma decided the Cantabrian's fate with three quarters of the game left to play. Christian Stuani also got in on the action with a goal before half time but Mehdi Lacen scored a late consolation goal to reduce the final deficit to two. Several top flight managers have lost their jobs in recent weeks and the pressure on Miguel Angel Portugal's head is starting to mount.
Espanyol made it six out of six home wins this season with a 3-0 victory over Hercules at the Cornella El Prat on matchday twelve. Joan Verdu gave the hosts an early lead but the result was only safe after Juan Calatayud's 80th minute red card and Pablo Osvaldo's subsequent penalty. Another spot kick in stoppage time converted by Luis Garcia completed the rout.
Iranian midfielder Masoud Shojaei scored the only goal for Osasuna as they beat Sporting de Gijon 1-0 at the Reyno de Navarra. After the intensity of last week's bitter clash with Real Madrid, Manuel Preciado's side looked drained and uninspired and they effectively gifted Jose Antonio Camacho's team three points due to their lack of intensity.
Real Mallorca caused the shock of the weekend as they upset former manager Gregorio Manzano's Sevilla with a 1-2 win at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. The Balearic visitors led for a long time thanks to Michael Pereira's first half goal but Luis Fabiano's strike three minutes before the end threatened to ruin Michael Laudrup's day. Justice was eventually done, however, as Mallorca responded immediately to Sevilla's equaliser by going up the other end and scoring via the head of Cameroonian forward Pierre Webo. This was Gregorio Manzano’s first home loss in the league since he took over at Sevilla and, after beating Atletico Madrid, Athletic Bilbao and Valencia at the Pizjuan, he was not expecting his old team, who are notoriously poor on the road, to come here and triumph.
Sunday's action concluded with Atletico Madrid staging a late comeback to beat Real Sociedad 2-4 at Anoeta. The Basque side led from the 12th minute, when Joseba Llorente put them in front, until the 71st minute when Diego Forlan equalised. Two goals in three minutes from man-of-the-match Sergio Aguero completed the turn around and sentenced the tie, even though an 85th minute goal from Diego Rivas gave Real a slim hope of a draw until Simao's stoppage time penalty re-established a two goal cushion.
Getafe did underfire boss Michel no favours as they were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom of the league side Real Zaragoza at the Coliseum Alfonso Perez on Monday night. The Madrilenos had to come from behind after Nicolas Bertolo put Javier Aguirre's side in front. Adrian Coluna equalised from the spot but Getafe wasted chances to win the game after Zaragoza defender Leonardo Ponzio was sent off midway through the second half. Under the circumstances, it was a satisfying debut for Mexican manager Aguirre, but he still has a lot of work to do at the Romareda.
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