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On Saturday in Spain, the leaders of the 8th round of "La Liga" played their matches. The championship-leading "Barcelona" footballers crushed Huelva's "Recreativo" 3-0 at home, while the second-placed "Valencia" suffered a surprising defeat away against "Racing Santander", losing 0-1. In the last Saturday matches, "Real" bounced back after conceding a goal in the first half and celebrated a 3-1 victory against Tarragona's "Gimnastic".
In Barcelona, the visiting team started the match slightly better, creating several impressive goal-scoring opportunities, but in the 30th minute the referee awarded a penalty for a foul by former "Barcelona" defender Mario in the penalty area against Eidur Gudjohnsen. Ronaldinho, who took a strong and precise penalty, put the hosts ahead.
Although "Barcelona" did not demonstrate their usual game, before the end of the first half, Marquez and E. Gudjohnsen had opportunities to score after Ronaldinho's pass and a great cross from Xavi, but could not find the net.
In the second half, it took a while for the "Barcelona" players to get into the game, but the match was decided in the 58th minute when the fans at "Nou Camp" witnessed a rare event - a Ronaldinho header goal. The Brazilian, assisted by his compatriot Sylvinho from the left flank, jumped higher than everyone in the penalty area and left no chance for the opponent's goalkeeper.
A few minutes later, the result became overwhelming - Belletti, who was free on the right side, spotted Xavi Hernandez inside the penalty area and crossed the ball superbly, with the Spaniard also scoring an unusual header into the far corner, beating Bertrand Laquait.
Halfway through the second half, the crowd welcomed the Argentine Javier Saviola, who replaced Gudjohnsen, with passionate ovations. With a convincing advantage, the "Barcelona" players started playing more in the middle of the field, attacking the opponent's goal less frequently.
With less than 20 minutes left, Ronaldinho almost scored a hat-trick, but his strong penalty was saved by the goalkeeper. After ten more minutes, "Recreativo" almost reduced the deficit, when Belletti cleared the ball from the goal line after a mistake by Valdes.
However, the hosts had the last chance in these matches: in extra time, the excellent Ludovicas Giuly in the penalty area noticed Saviola, but the Argentine shot straight at the goalkeeper.
In Santander, surrounded by smoke, the match started rather slowly and about 20 minutes into the game, "Valencia" had the first real opportunity to score when Morientes' shot from about 10 meters was parried by Tono.
Neither team gained a gameplay advantage in the first half, so it became clear that a single goal could change everything. Just before the end of the added time of the first half, the hosts had two chances to score, but Canizares was a great goalkeeper.
The second half started more actively with "Racing Santander", and Munitis' penalty shot flew just wide of the post. The hosts scored the only goal of the match in the 57th minute when Munitis scored with a header after a pass from Zigić.
"Valencia" responded to this unexpected setback with dangerous attacks by Regueiro and Joaquín, but they did not gain a clear gameplay advantage.
With about fifteen minutes left to play, Pallardo's strong shot from outside the penalty area flew over the crossbar. The match ended ten against ten, as Gavilán, who suffered an injury at the beginning of the match and was replaced by Regueiro, received his second yellow card in added time.
Although in these matches "Valencia" had to do without their team leaders such as captain David Albelda, midfielder Rubén Baraja, and left-back Vicente Rodríguez, this unexpected defeat could cause some damage to their title challenge.
In Tarragona, the match started more actively with the hosts, and in the fourth minute, a great reaction from Iker Casillas saved the "Real" goal from Gilo's shot. A few minutes later, Makukula had a great opportunity.
It was after this run by the Congo national team striker that Cannavaro fouled in the penalty area, and the referee awarded a penalty, which was successfully converted by Buades.
However, this goal seemed to awaken the Real players, and they started to dominate the field. Just before the break, Diaz Prendes brought down Guti in the penalty area, and Roberto Carlos scored from the resulting penalty, equalizing the score.
In the second half, Real seemed relaxed and played easily. About five minutes after Guti's high corner kick, Helguera headed the ball into the net.
Real continued to dominate the field and sealed the victory in the 85th minute with a well-built attack: Raul passed to Robinho on the right side, who made a quick pass to Diarra. He then passed the ball to Ramos, who crossed to Robinho, and with an impressive shot, he sent the ball into the far corner.
