Barcelona moved four points clear of Real Madrid at the top of the Primera Liga as a double from Lionel Messi eased them to a 2-0 win at Eibar yesterday.
The Argentine overcame his recent penalty struggles to open the scoring from the spot and then headed in his side’s second from Ivan Rakitic’s corner.
Madrid have the chance to reduce the gap back to a point ahead of next weekend’s clasico between the two sides when they face Levante today.
Body: Messi had missed five of his last 11 penalties for club and country, but he made no mistake from the spot as he thumped the ball home. He put the game beyond any doubt as he was left free inside the area to head Rakitic’s cross into the far corner and move two goals clear of Cristiano Ronaldo in the fight to be Spain’s top goalscorer.
Earlier, champions Atletico Madrid surrendered third place to Valencia when they had Miranda sent off for a brutal challenge in first-half added time and were held to a 0-0 draw at mid-table Espanyol.
Playing with down one man in the second period, Raul Garcia came close to breaking the deadlock 13 minutes from time when his low shot was tipped away by Kiko Casilla. Atletico are without a win in their last four games and need to overturn a 1-0 deficit when they host Bayer Leverkusen in a Uefa Champions League last-16, second-leg tie on Tuesday.
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