La Liga : Messi Magical, Real miserable

Sevilla 0 - 3 Barcelona

A brace from Lionel Messi led Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Sevilla on Saturday and a six-point lead at the top of the Spanish league as Real Madrid crashed, 3-1, at city-rivals Getafe. Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had told his players beforehand to show commitment and it was needed against a Sevilla side who battled for every ball. The game was played at a frantic pace with few clear chances but it was Barcelona who made the most of theirs with Messi once again the outstanding player.

In the opening minutes Luis Fabiano shot over from inside the box for Sevilla but after 20 minutes it was Samuel Eto'o who opened the scoring latching onto a loose ball in the area and firing home. Fabiano went close again and Frederic Kanoute felt unlucky not to be awarded a penalty after tumbling in the box following a challenge from Gerard Pique. But the clearest chance came later for Kanoute, who could only hit the crossbar after beating the offside trap.

In the second half, both sides were reduced to shots from distance before Messi took centre stage. The Argentine ran onto a ball from midfield and volleyed into the corner from 25 yards to extend Barca's lead after 78 minutes. He completed his brace in injury time, rounding the keeper before slotting home. Sevilla's night was made worse by the controversial dismissal of Fabiano for elbowing Sergio Busquets.

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Getafe 3 - 1 Real Madrid

Getafe shocked mighty Real Madrid 3-1 on Saturday to pile renewed pressure on Real coach Bernd Schuster, whose side have lost two of their last three Spanish league games. Schuster was forced into fielding a make-shift team with seven players unavailable and they got off to the worst possible start conceding a goal after just three minutes with Juan Angel Albin converting a Jaime Gavilan cross.

Getafe, brimming with confidence following their draw against Barcelona a week ago, continued to take the game to their Madrid city rivals whose hopes further deteriorated with Wesley Sneijder and Miguel Torres limping off before half-time. Fernando Gago grazed the crossbar but Real were unable to take a hold of the game.

Only a few minutes after the interval Albin knocked in his second, slipping the ball past Iker Casillas. Real were given hope when Javier Saviola finished well inside the area, after Juan Guti had won back possession. But rather than building on the goal, Madrid soon lost impetus, and it was Getafe who looked more likely to score again. With nine minutes remaining Ikechukwu Uche secured the win for Getafe with a clinical finish after the hard work had been done by his strike partner Albin. fifa

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Other results;

Getafe 3 - 1 Real Madrid
Sevilla 0 - 3 Barcelona
.......
Almeria ? - ? Deportivo La Coruna
Athletic Bilbao ? - ? Numancia
Espanyol ? - ? Sporting Gijon
Malaga ? - ? Osasuna
Recreativo Huelva ? - ? Villarreal
Valladolid ? - ? Mallorca
Valencia ? - ? Real Betis
Atletico Madrid ? - ? Racing Santander