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Two masterful goals by Brazilian Ronaldinho and one accurate strike by Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o allowed Barcelona to celebrate victory on Saturday against their fierce rival Real Madrid at their own Santiago Bernabeu stadium in front of almost 80,000 spectators.
Defending their Spanish champions title, Barcelona controlled the game from the start and although the first attempt by S.Eto'o was a bit off target, the visitors surged ahead in the 15th minute when after a breakthrough by L.Messi, the Cameroonian forward received the ball near the penalty area, turned around, and with a clever strike sent the ball into Iker Casillas' guarded goal.
About half an hour into the game, L.Messi himself scored a goal, but it was disallowed due to an offside, and shortly after the young Argentine threatened the Real goal again, but this time Casillas timely came out of the goal to block the shot.
The visitors continued to dominate the match and could have increased their lead further, but the Madrid club was saved from more trouble by their goalkeeper, initially defending against Ronaldinho's attempt, and at the end of the first half, he even blocked a powerful shot by S.Eto'o.
After the break, the on-field situation did not change. Barcelona controlled the game and constantly created dangerous attacks, while Real's offensive machine got stuck and couldn't break through the opponents' defense. About ten minutes into the second half, L.Messi had another chance to score, but once again he failed to beat Casillas.
After an hour of play, the Catalan team finally doubled their lead - receiving the ball on the left flank, Ronaldinho jumped past M.Salgado, entered the penalty area, and deceived I.Helguera before shooting accurately. Real immediately responded with a dangerous attack when after a pass from Robinho, the ball barely missed the goal from Ronaldo.
With 20 minutes left in the match, Ronaldo finally scored a goal, but the Brazilian was offside and the goal was disallowed. Later, Barcelona's goal was threatened by defender M.Salgado who sprinted into the attack, but his shot was successfully blocked by goalkeeper V.Valdes.
Immediately after that, the result was made overwhelming as Ronaldinho found himself free on the left flank again, and bypassing S.Ramos, he sent the ball into the far corner of the goal. Interestingly, this time, the fans of the Royal club accompanied another excellent goal by the best player of the previous year with applause, as some of them disappointed with their team started to leave the stadium earlier.
The meeting ended with a stunning three-goal advantage for the visitors. Although in this match, Real saw the return of Brazilian Ronaldo and defender Zinedine Zidane to the field after injuries, the Royal club rarely threatened the visitors' goal, therefore at the end of the match, Real players were booed off the field by their own fans.
This was the 14th victory for Barcelona against Real at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Spanish championship, and Frank Rijkaard became the only Barcelona coach to beat Real twice in their fortress. This victory also allowed the national champions to increase their lead over the Madrid club to four points and climb to the top spot in the league standings.
The Saturday matches ended with a scoreless draw: UEFA Champions League participants Villarreal failed to beat Zaragoza at home, while the duel between this season's surprises Getafe and Osasuna also ended goalless.
Also on Saturday, there was a highly anticipated Seville derby between Sevilla and Betis. In very tense and nervy matches, where the referee showed two red and eleven yellow cards, Sevilla's victory was determined by the lone goal by Italian Enzo Maresca, scored from a penalty spot.
Saturday Statistics
Madrid 0 - 3
15` [0 - 1] Samuel Eto'o
60` [0 - 2] Ronaldinho
76` [0 - 3] Ronaldinho
0 - 0
Madrid 0 - 0 Pamplona
1 - 0 Sevilla
50` [1 - 0] Enzo Maresca (pen.)
Top Scorers
1. Samuel Eto'o (Barcelona) - 11 goals;
2. Ronaldinho (Barcelona) - 8;
3-4. Ronaldo (Real Madrid) - 7;
3-4. David Villa (Valencia) - 7;
5-6. Raul (Real Madrid) - 5;
5-6. Fernando Baiano (Celta Vigo) - 5;
