(1-0) 2' Llorente
Athletic Bilbao came out all guns blazing as they struck the post twice and scored the decisive goal inside the first two minutes to send Real Madrid crashing to a demoralising defeat. Fernando Llorente headed in from an early corner after Lass had directed the ball into his path, rewarding Bilbao for a riproaring start that had the Madridistas rocking. From then on it was the Iraizoz show as the keeper repelled everything Ronaldo, Kaká and Benzema sent his way. Incredible as it sounds, with hundreds of millions of euros on the pitch, Real Madrid lacked a killer instinct infront of goal that Gonzalo Higuain had been providing of late, with Kaká and Ronaldo particularly guilty of squandering chances. To his credit, Benzema was sharp on his return to the side and was unlucky to hit the post with one of the few chances that came his way. But Athletic Bilbao hung on to claim a famous victory as Real Madrid drop five points behind Barca with some of the press claiming it to be an unassailable lead; ridiculous with not even half the season gone, but many more of these types of displays, especially away from the Bernabeu, and it really will be title charge over.
Barcelona 4 - 0 Sevilla
(1-0) 49' Escude (o.g), (2-0) 70' Pedro, (3-0) 85' Messi, (4-0) 90' Messi
Barcelona exacted revenge on Sevilla as they thrashed the Andalucians only days after being knocked out of the cup. Yet during a fairly dull first half, it looked as if Sevilla were going to spring another surprise on the league leaders, as their two defensive banks of four did well to restrict the time and space Barca had on the ball. When Barcelona did work a way through the mass of bodies Sevilla planted infront of the ball, they found Andres Palop in the same form that had seen him single-handedly knock Barca out of the Copa del Rey. But whatever Guardiola said to his team at the break worked as they smashed in four goals, including a gorgeous dink from sub Pedro and two late goals from La Liga topscorer Lionel Messi to send Sevilla south with another league defeat to ponder upon. Manolo Jiminez will want Luis Fabiano and Kanoute back as soon as possible as without them they lack any sort of goalthreat. It was also strange Renato spent the whole match sat on the bench, as they seriously missed his organisation and guile in the middle of the pitch. Barca march on as their mini-crisis (what crisis?) has been stamped out with nine goals in two games.
Osasuna 2 - 0 Espanyol
(1-0) 7' Juanfran, (2-0) 8' Pandiani
Osasuna had gone five games without winning, four games without scoring, and four games without a win at home. But they only needed one minute to end all three runs as Juanfran and Walter Pandiani (perhaps the finest headerer of the ball in La Liga) sent their team into an early lead against Espanyol which was enough to earn them three vital points in their battle to drag themselves away from the relegation zone. Espanyol were never at the races, and even though they perked up after a dismal opening half hour, chances were few and far between and Pochettino will be worried by the lack of fight and passion his players showed during the match. Without Tamudo and Luis Garcia, their two best strikers by a country mile, scoring goals will be a struggle.
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