Eurosport - Sun, 07 Dec 18:28:00 2008
Thierry Henry scored a hat-trick as Barcelona beat Valencia 4-0 at Camp Nou to extend their lead at the top of La Liga.
Daniel Alves was also on target for Pep Guardiola's side, who are now unbeaten in 20 matches and six points clear of second-placed Villarreal in the league.
Henry put the home side ahead on 20 minutes, racing onto Yaya Toure's pass and lifting the ball over Valencia goalkeeper Bitto Renan.
The Frenchman doubled his tally seven minutes later, collecting Alexander Hleb's neat pass inside the box and calmly slotting home to put Barca 2-0 up.
Barca went 3-0 ahead barely a minute into the second half, when the influential Xavi sent Alves through on the right. The wing-back gathered himself before firing firmly into the opposite corner.
Valencia were not happy, however, as a flag had been raised against Hleb earlier in the move, but it was ignored by the referee.
Barca completed the rout on 79 minutes, when substitute Bojan Krkic cut inside from the right and dragged the ball back to provide Henry with a straighforward tap-in to complete his hat-trick.
It was another dominant performance from Barcelona, who attacked with real purpose and completely overwhelmed Valencia. The visitors struggled to assert themselves and barely created anything of note.
Villarreal 3-3 Getafe
Villarreal staged a remarkable comeback to draw 3-3 with in-form Getafe at El Madrigal and avoid falling to a second successive home defeat in La Liga.
Estaban Granero, Jaime Gavilan and Javier Casquero were on target for the visitors, who led 3-0 inside half an hour to leave Manuel Pellegrini's side stunned.
But Robert Pires's fortunate goal on 55 minutes gave Villarreal hope, before late strikes from Sebastian Eguren and Giuseppe Rossi salvaged an unlikely point and kept the home side in touch with league leaders Barcelona.
Getafe entered the match with confidence high after victory over Real Madrid, and went ahead on 10 minutes when Granero chested the ball before firing an exquisite volley into the top corner.
Gavilan put the visitors two up soon after, taking Cosmin Contra's right-wing cross on the volley to fire back across goal into the bottom corner.
On 30 minutes Casquero's left-foot shot from the edge of the box beat Diego Lopez and gave mid-table Getafe a 3-0 cushion at the break.
But Villarreal would not lie down. On 55 minutes a goalmouth scramble resulted in a bizarre goal for Pires, when a clearance struck the Frenchman on the chest and looped in.
The home side pulled another goal back with five minutes remaining when Diego Leal headed back across goal for Eguren to poke home.
Their comeback was complete two minutes later, when former Manchester United forward Rossi drove home through a crowd of players to make it 3-3.
Sporting Gijon 2-5 Atletico Madrid
Sergio Aguero and Diego Forlan led Atletico Madrid to a 5-2 comeback win at Sporting Gijon in another thriller.
Sporting's Mate Bilic scored with a header after four minutes but two minutes later Argentine Aguero controlled the ball on his chest and finished with a spectacular overhead kick.
In the pouring rain the Sporting keeper spilled a shot for Aguero to poach his second and Uruguay's Forlan stole the ball off a defender to make it 3-1 in the 57th.
David Barral pulled it back to 3-2 with a thunderous shot before Maxi Rodriguez and Forlan made sure of the win for the visitors.
Atletico climbed to fifth with 24 points.
Comment 3 - 22 of 22
and btw the girl whos from the us, whos open minded, and is clearly desparate should get a life, thats if you really are a girl?
badboyz, are you flippin stupid? FABREGAS ISNT GOING TO BARCA FOOOL
Anyone could be tempted to ask where David Villa was in that game...
Poor Real Madrid is next, GO Barca
EPL is boring...not competetive..MU against barca last season..MU play defend..they scare off barca..but this season they should scare even more..VIVA BARCA...no team can match barca..even iniesta injured but barca still win..they still have plenty more..gudjohnsen,hleb,bojan,pedro,busquet,toure,keita,x avi and fabregas is coming..
Barçelona vs. Valencia 4-0 . Attendance: 83000 . Enough said !!
If goodfootball wins nothin, then ask yourself- Whats the attendance at chelsea stadiums compared to Man-U or Arsenal?
How many people will pay to watch Barca, compared to Inter? I rest my case.
comments 11-14:
Read comment#10. Enjoy your boring brand of football . Go Barça !!
hope barcelona meet inter in champions league to get a lesson in how to win....
you can play beauty football and win nothing...the best are the ones that take they opportunities to score and win the game....inter are the best
inter milan all the way...
Inter milan are the best...jose morinho will be the best coach ever seen in football.....
Barçelona are proof that clubs do NOT have to play negative, defensive and RUBBISH football to win !!
I am a fan of good football and when I see it, I call it. It doesn't matter the team. Barca are real class right now, just like Man U was real class last season. Barca's game is not only attractive to football fans but it is a work of art even for those who do not understand the game. They play, not only to win games but to engage their audience in the beauty of this game. That is why you don't see them get dirty. So for those of you die heart fans of whatever clubs, it is nice to open up a little bit and appreciate something good irrespective of the club you support. You may be surprise that you will wish the team you are so much in love with should play an attractive style of the game like Barca does. And that is what we should be fans of: Fans of GOOD FOOTBALL, the beautiful game.
It's still too early to congratulate Barca for the titles. If Eto'o, xavi or Messi get injured for 2-3 months - barca will have difficulties in CL. In Spain they could lift the title somewhere in March. There is no team in Spain to match thier force and able to stop them. Real will receive 4 or 5 goals when they'll meet Barca now in Dec.
But for CL nothing is over yet - Barca are playing the best football now in Europe (again) but English big four and Inter are difficult to beat. Forca Barca, Go Man U - the best final we can dream of - the best attacking force against each other on the final - let's dream....
EPL is a little boring
Barca will win La Liga.
liverpool plays handball...pls!
I can't see any of the top foue in England, Italy or anywhere else, matching Barca when their on form!
Liverpool always beat the very best in Europe
Happy to add Barca to the list once again!!!
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