Madrid crushes Barca in El Clasico
Sunday, May 11, 2008

Real Madrid celebrated its second straight La Liga title by thrashing rivals Barcelona, 4-1 at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.

Just three days after clinching the crown with a win over Osasuna, Madrid was greeted by an adoring home crowd that saw them thoroughly outclass their rivals with first-half goals from Raul and Arjen Robben. Gonzalo Higuain and Ruud van Nistelrooy then scored goals for Madrid in the second half to make it a four-goal game before Thierry Henry pulled one back for Barca in the game's final 10 minutes.

Madrid came out attacking from the start and the home side was up two goals after only 21 minutes.

It took 13 minutes for the first goal as Wesley Sneijder tried to play a pass to Guti at the top of the box. The ball was a little off target, allowing Barcelona's Rafael Marquez to break up the play. However, Guti poked the ball free, while also appearing to clip Marquez on the foot, and the loose ball fell to Raul, who slammed it past Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes and inside the left post for a 1-0 lead.

The second goal came eight minutes later with Guti also having a hand in it. The midfielder curled a free kick into the box from the right, and Robben was left wide open at the top of the six-yard box to nod it past Valdes.

Barca's lone chance in the first half came from an Henry free kick, but the ball was curled wide.

Things got worse for Barca in the second half with Mahamadou Diarra winning the ball on the right wing and carrying it into the box. He then slipped the ball to Higuain in front of goal and the Argentine lifted the ball over Valdes to make it 3-0.

Madrid was in complete control of the match and they extended their lead to four goals with 12 minutes to play. Robinho drove a cross into the box from the left, but Barca defender Carles Puyol put his hands up and got a piece of the ball, giving Madrid a penalty kick. Van Nistelrooy then stepped to the spot and sent Valdes the wrong way, putting the ball in the lower right corner for a four-goal lead.

Henry did find the net in the 87th minute to avoid the shutout, but it was little consolation as Barca fell to Madrid for the second time this season.

Villarreal locked up second place with a 2-0 over Recreativo, Athletic Bilbao got a goal from Igor Gabilondo in the 83rd minute to beat Murcia 2-1 and Valladolid finished 1-1 with Real Betis.

David Silva's strike in the 20th minute was enough to give Valencia a 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza, moving Valencia five points clear of the drop zone, Getafe also moved five clear by beating Almeria 4-2, Deportivo downed Levante 1-0, Mallorca won 2-1 against Osasuna and Federico Fazio scored twice in Sevilla's 3-0 win over Racing.