La Liga - Round-up: Real win as Barca draw

Reuters - Sat, 21 Nov 22:45:00 2009

Gonzalo Higuain earned Real Madrid a 1-0 win over Racing Santander at the Bernabeu, a result that takes them to the top of La Liga as Barcelona were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao.

Barcelona's Messi tries to avoid being kicked by Athletic Bilbao of Amoribieta - 0

Manuel Pellegrini's Real side were all over Racing from the outset and had hit the woodwork twice before Higuain hooked in from close range in the 21st minute.

Real had been whistled off the pitch in their last home game, after being knocked out of the King's Cup by third-tier Alcorcon, and the Bernabeu became restless as their team continued to dominate but without adding to the score.

Karim Benzema had a wonderful backheel ruled out for offside after the break and Racing, with new coach Miguel Angel Portugal at the helm, almost snatched a point when Sergio Canales had a goal harshly ruled for offside at the other end.

"The game wasn't as tight as the scoreline suggests. On another day, playing worse, we would probably have scored more goals," Pellegrini said.

Barcelona bossed the first half in Bilbao, but the home side lit up the San Mames with a second-half rally that earned a point.

Barca weathered an early storm before asserting and Lionel Messi and Xavi were guilty of missing good chances. Messi was lucky to still be on the field, having narrowly avoided serious injury when being caught with a very high boot from Fernando Amorebieta (pictured).

Athletic should arguably have been ahead at the interval, as Javi Martinez planted a header wide right on half time when it looked impossible to miss.

Xavi is creator-in-chief for Barca and he showed all his quality with an exquisite pass for the marauding Daniel Alves when under pressure and the Brazilian took full advantage with a fine finish from eight yards.

Bilbao made an attacking change, throwing on Gaizka Toquero, and it paid off as he latched on to a flick-on from Llorente before slamming his shot past Victor Valdes.

"We are playing as well as we usually do, creating chances, but struggling to score goals," Alves said.

"I hope normal service will be restored from next Sunday."

Barcelona cede top spot to Real, who are now one point ahead of their rivals ahead of next week's Clasico.

Earlier, Sevilla beat promoted Tenerife 2-1 away with well-taken goals in each half from Diego Perotti and Renato.

Manolo Jimenez's side held on to third place with 25 points, three ahead of Deportivo La Coruna, who climbed to fourth, after a hotly-disputed injury-time penalty gave them a 2-1 victory over visiting Atletico Madrid.

Sergio Aguero poached an early goal for Atletico but Argentine compatriot Diego Colotto levelled for Depor with a back post header in the 20th.

Mexico's Andres Guardado netted the spot kick at the end after Pablo Ibanez was penalised for bringing down Alberto Lopo.

Struggling Atletico remain in the relegation zone with seven points, behind 17th-placed Racing on goal difference.

Reuters

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  1. Wrong headline…

    It´s not: “real WIN as Barça draw”

    It­ should be: “real ROB as Barça draw”

    From Eslay, on Mon 23 Nov 11:07AM

  2. Barca needs to win the Club World Cup! cos they are the­ best team in the world! Visca el Barca!!!

    From damnsoldja, on Sun 22 Nov 4:48PM

  3. hala hala hala hala hala halah hala.....

    From devinkwasi, on Sun 22 Nov 2:17PM

  4. oh and a song to sing for the madridistas, what I­ almost forgotten: madrid, cabron!!! saluda al­ Campeon!!! madrid, cabron!!! saluda al Campeon!!! ­ dont forget about it little dirty pocket @#$%­ madridistas, that Barca won the treble!!! :):) Visca­ el Barca!!! :):)

    From damnsoldja, on Sun 22 Nov 2:08PM

  5. all you haters of madrid may you repent for whether you­ like it or not real madrid is the most successful club­ in the world,club of the century,richest club in the­ world...add some for me....hala mdrid

    From devinkwasi, on Sun 22 Nov 2:00PM

  6. Please don't say that sort of things about Madrid,­ "bought every match" or something. Please­ please please. There was also a penalty that wasn't­ awarded to Benzema. Anyway you got your share of­ favourable decisions in last year's champions­ league and in 2006. Why do you need to pretend like you­ are holy and Real Madrid is the devil? Please­ don't, it does nobody a favor.

    From Csaba, on Sun 22 Nov 12:45PM

  7. wtf was that goal cancelled from racing man? stop­ talking bs about barca

    From Varnavas P, on Sun 22 Nov 11:18AM

  8. Gatechew44 dont look at past look now and the­ future.Rubin Kazan is now the champion of Russia for­ the second year in a row.Now if Rubin Kazan plays­ against Alcorcon im 100% sure that Rubin Kazan will­ crush Alcorcon.Here are some facts that Barca is Beter­ than real madrid.I respect and real madrid but u cant­ win la liga or UCL cheating.First Barca didnt lose­ never in her history from a team of third divison.Barca­ in 11 games in La Liga have won 8 of them draw 3 and­ they didnt lose any game.Real madrid losed 1.Yesterday­ game Real Madrid-Racing Santander was a bought­ game.Canales goal wasnt offside.U see Pepe and Arbeloa­ were inside the penalty area and canales was­ outside.Geijo were in offside positon but he didnt try­ to catch the ball.Pepe didnt shoot the ball out penalty­ area.Canales runs shoots and SCOORES!!But the referee­ said that he was in offside positon this is a­ cheat.Visca Barca.Barca plays fair soccer and thats the­ reason why she will win La Liga.

    From Egzon, on Sun 22 Nov 10:33AM

  9. Well this "let's be friends" idea­ didn't really work out did it.

    From Csaba, on Sun 22 Nov 10:23AM

  10. Gatechew44 that goal of racing santander was­ fair.Canales was not in an offside position this is a­ proff that madrid are cheating every game.Remember­ against atletico madrid there were some fouls for­ atletico madrid but the referee didnt agreed.Real­ Madrid are cheating in every game and this is not the­ way how u can win la liga or champions league:S.Visca­ Blaugranaa:D

    From Egzon, on Sun 22 Nov 10:17AM

  11. oh sh!+t!...... d@m'n!
    so as usual i'm the­ target for barca fans and i don't know why
    one­ thing i know is that i love football and respect all­ the teams but i can't lie to make barca fans­ happier
    i'm here to give out some facts, and usualy­ my facts cause some pain,,, really sorry for that
    ok­ now lets go back to football
    there are some questions­ and blame to me and i will diffend my self and answer­ all the questions
    1___ they said IBRA is better than­ ronaldo but as long as i know that ronaldo scored 9­ goals in 8 matches while IBRA score 8 goals in 15­ matches in all competition
    2___ they said we spend alot­ but the truth is that barca spend too much more than­ any other team, with all the stars they got but still­ spend 130 mil euro
    maxwel 8 m
    shigrinsky 25 m
    ibra 45­ + 5 + eto which consider as 30
    the young brazilian 20­ mil
    8 + 25 + 45 + 5 + 30 + 20 =133 mil
    so don't say­ that we spend to much
    3___ they said we lost to 3rd­ division team but they forgot that they lost to russian­ team in their own soil, the same russian team was in­ 2nd division few years ago
    4___ CL matches,,,, barca­ are really on fire and very close to be out of the­ competition but beyond all this, i'm wondering how­ will barca fans welcome eto in their match against­ inter?
    do they will feel sad to see him in camp nou not­ wearing barca's shirt but playing against barca and­ how will be their reaction if he score the wining goal­ on valdez and push barca out of CL instead of helping­ them win it
    5___ they said all the pressure is on us in­ classico but they fact is that you are in pressure,­ especialy after a hard game against inter and they told­ me wait till classico and if they win i have to shut up­ but i will say this to them.... "we will win and­ so u have to shut the hell up.

    From getachew44, on Sun 22 Nov 8:58AM

  12. getachew44,sorry i wasnt able to accompany u,i was­ sleeping just now...to be honest,im more than happy­ that barca won 5 trophies in just like,one year and one­ month???i dont really care if they win everything again­ because what i know is,they're the 1st spanish team­ to get the treble...haha madrid...haha madrid...at­ least barca dont owe the bank 600m...and i dont really­ mind if u beat us next week because after spending 200m­ euros on barbie dolls,u should be winning...its a shame­ if u lose to us...and yes,thanks for taking the­ pressure off from us being the leader in la­ liga...we'll let u hold on to it until next year­ march,we'll take it back...and tp #1 &­ #2,thanks for the effort,its people like getachew44­ that makes us hate madrid...no offence to both of u­ football lover...long live barca...

    From eevernc, on Sun 22 Nov 4:21AM

  13. @ #8 getachew44, what about your pathetic princess­ kaka, a waste of 65m euros that can't score a goal.­ Or what about that pathetic benzema who can't stand­ raul and can't score any goals, 35m euros on him,­ wow. What about alonso, 35m euros on him, who can't­ even give a descent pass. Or what about the biggest­ waste of money 94m euros who only played 5 matches­ because he is too weak to handle La Liga and gets­ injure so easy. At least Ibra is doing fine, has more­ goals that that pathetic benzema, and ronaldo, and has­ more assists than alonso. So what more do you want from­ Ibra. HaHa madrid!!!!!!!!!!

    From Money Does Not Buy Success - Fuxxk Getachew44, on Sun 22 Nov 3:05AM

  14. @ #10 getachew44, you are the biggest fuxking dixk head­ I ever known. We Barca fans have a life, unlike you who­ creates over 500 different accounts and is here 24/7­ writting your stupid comments that no one care. I'm­ here, and I support Barca. Why don't you talk about­ your pathetic madrid team, who got humiliated 4-0 by a­ third division team, why don't you talk about how­ madrid hardly won against santander in bernabeu 1-0­ with all their players except ronaldo, that shows how­ horrible madrid is. At least Barca drew to a tough team­ and away, and without Ibra, Henry, Abidal, Toure,­ Puyol, and Sub out Messi and Xavi. So go suxk on your­ moms tits, you are still young and need some milk. I­ don't get you madrid fans, why you people talk too­ much. Last time I checked we beat madrid 6-2 in­ bernabeu, so it does not matte what you say.

    From Money Does Not Buy Success - Fuxxk Getachew44, on Sun 22 Nov 3:01AM

  15. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH BarcaNUBBLA oh dear what­ is happening ???? AHHHHHHHHH LOOOOOOOOOL you needed the­ hand of a cheating frenchmen no ? Let's see how­ bald Pep will be soon loooooooooooool.

    From Cerberus, on Sun 22 Nov 2:46AM

  16. I hate haters... Does that make me hating my self???­ I'm confused..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 22 Nov 2:15AM

  17. Selling the guy who scores when Messi does not was the­ biggest mistake of Barcelona. How many times did we­ hear ''if it ain't broken don't try to­ fix it''? Good for Real..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 22 Nov 2:10AM

  18. Selling the guy who scores when Messi does not was the­ biggest mistake of Barcelona. How many times did we­ hear ''if it ain't broken don't try to­ fix it''? Good for Real..

    From Half A Brain, on Sun 22 Nov 2:10AM

  19. I have to say that barcelona dont play well in the away­ games this season. They look shaky.They look like they­ will concede a goal or two in every away game even­ though they dominate possession 65 to 35 % but u`ve got­ to admit that they had no ibrahimovic , toure yaya ,­ abidal , puyol and they even substituted messi and xavi­ in the end.This means that they are more concentrated­ for the inter game in the midweek.They are happy with­ the draw and credit to athletic for the fight they put­ on for the whole game.If they lose to inter at nou­ camp, they wont qualify for the knock-out stages of the­ champions league and then you can criticize them but­ you cant for this game simply because they didnt care­ about it really.

    From filip_vas19, on Sun 22 Nov 1:18AM

  20. zakonna yazin ah saidamir) hala madrid)

    From chechenr, on Sun 22 Nov 1:18AM
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