Spanish La Liga, Round 20: Barcelona Downs Racing Santander 3-0, Real Madrid Fight To 1-0 Win Over Spirited Mallorca

A win is a win, but the almost deafening silence that greeted the final whistle was an indication of exactly what the crowd felt about Real Madrid’s performance. Again, Mourinho’s men failed to turn it on in front of their fans, but all Mourinho will care about are the three points, especially against a team that is renowned for making life difficult against the big guns.

Mallorca deserve an enormous amount of respect for the way they approached the match. Without fear, it was clear Laudrup’s side had come to the Bernabeu looking for the win, and in players like Webo, Nsue and Chori Castro, they had players who could cause problems with the Madrid backline. Where Mallorca really impressed was in midfield, as Gago and Granero, a surprise midfield pairing for Madrid, simply couldn’t cope with the industry shown by Sergio Tejera and Joao Victor.

Let’s hear a round of applause for Mauricio Pochettino and his Espanyol attackers! They’ve come out of halftime guns blazing and have completely overwhelmed Getafe with three goals in an 11 minute span. They haven’t been created by any one or two players, but instead all of Espanyol’s attackers have contributed to a fantastic comeback.

The most recent goal was scored in the 64th minute off of a fast break, which might be the most impressive part of this goal and Espnayol’s comeback. They have now scored three different ways: Off of a build up, a set piece, and a fast break. Sergio Garcia provided a clinical finish on the play, assisted by Jose Maria Callejon. Luis Gargia, Sergio Garcia, and Luis Maria Callejon now all have one goal and one assist each to their names.

This was not Barcelona at their mesmerising best, but they never had to be against a spirited yet limited Racing Santander. When Pedro gave Barcelona the lead after two minutes, you thought Barca would go on to knock six or seven past Toño. Racing improved as the match wore on, especially during a ten minute spell just after half time when they threatened to pull a goal back through Kennedy, but as ever Barcas class was too much for their opponents.

Leo Messi was the creative force behind Pedros opener, exchanging passes with Iniesta in the box before chipping over Toño. The ball appeared destined for the net, but Pedro made sure, chesting in on the line. Racing claimed offside, and the replays proved Pedro was slightly ahead of Messi when the Argentine chipped over the keeper, but the goal stood. His 11th of what is turning out to be a great season for the man formely known as Pedrito.

Racing Santander came out after the break determined to drag themselves back into the match, with the away side enjoying a couple of early chances at the start of the second half, the best of which saw Kennedy miss out on a tap in by a matter of centimetres. It’s beena spirited showing this from Racing Santander, but the gulf in class is simply too big.

And that gulf is class was in evidence when Andres Iniesta fired Barcelona 3-0 up. David Villa dribbled into the area and waited for Pedros run to roll a ball across the face of the box. Pedro then produced an incredible back flick to waiting Iniesta, who rocketed in a shot that took a deflection as it shot past Toño in the Racing goal. Champagne football from Barca.

Real Madrid dropped points in a 1-1 draw against lowly Almeria last weekend, leaving Barcelona four points adrift at the top of La Liga. This week, both teams are heavily favored again, but Real Madrid faces a minor test to avoid falling farther behind their rivals. They host flat broke Mallorca, who Michael Laudrup has admirably guided to a mid-table finish. Mallorca, of course, are the side that managed to hold Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw in the opening match of the season.

That game comes on Sunday, though. On Saturday, under-achieving Sevilla takes on Levante before Barcelona takes on a Racing Santander team seemingly devoid of quality. They’ve been thoroughly destroyed in both of their fixtures against Spain’s “big two” in the first half of the season, with their loss to Real Madrid being particularly embarrassing. In the night cap, Valencia takes on Manuel Pellegrini’s Malaga and their struggling defense.