 |
|
Barcelona's captain Carles Puyol kisses his captain band as he celebrates his goal against Real Madrid during their Spanish first division soccer match at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid May 2, 2009.
|
FC Barcelona produced a magnificent performance to beat Real Madrid 6-2 in the Santiago Bernabeu stadium to virtually assure this season's Spanish Primera Liga title.
Barcelona came back from a goal down to humiliate Real Madrid in front of 80,000 fans on Madrid's home ground with a performance that left no doubt about the vast gulf in class between the two teams.
The win leaves Barcelona seven points ahead of Real Madrid with just four games left this season. If Barcelona wins at home to Villarreal next weekend and Madrid fails to win in Valencia, Barca will be mathematically crowned champion.
Despite taking an early lead through a Gonzalo Higuain header after 13 minutes, Madrid always looked second best.
That was confirmed in emphatic style in the following minutes. Thierry Henry, who had a magnificent game, equalized just four minutes later with an instinctive finish following a Leo Messi pass.
Barcelona went ahead after 19 minutes when Carles Puyol headed home a Xavi Hernandez free kick.
That set the scene for Barcelona to totally dominate the rest of the half and had it not been for a series of saves from Iker Casillas, the Catalan team would have scored at least two goals more before Messi finally made it 3-1 after 35 minutes.
The Barcelona striker took advantage of an error from Madrid's Lassana Diarra to stride forward and coolly beat Casillas.
