Sunday Round-Up: Barca back in business

Barca responded to those questioning whether their golden era had come to an end with a stunning 6-1 victory over Real Zaragoza in the Camp Nou. Barca dominated from the off with Keita orchestrating events from midfield. The man from Mali scored his first hat-trick for the club and created two others in an all-action display. Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored two in another dazzling performance, with Messi notching the other goal with a delightful chip after being played through by Iniesta. Both Messi and Barca answered their recent critics in style, and they open a three-point gap over Real Madrid.

Valencia moved up into the Champions League spots with a 0-3 win at Almeria. Their spanish contigent got the goals with David Villa, Pablo Hernandez and Juan Mata all on the scoresheet. Hernandez´s goal is worth catching on youtube: a sumptuous lob from 40 metres.

Team of the moment Deportivo La Coruña crashed to a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the ever-unpredictable Real Valladolid. A scoreline that no-one could possibly have foreseen was the fruit of four brilliantly-taken goals, with two from man of the match Nauzet. But even this wasnt enough for coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, who berated his team´s performance as being ´not good enough´ in the post-match conference. Hard man to please.

In the other matches, Roberto Soldado looked to remind Spain coach Vicente del Bosque of his goalscoring ability with a goal in the 2-0 win against Athletic Bilbao. Racing saved a point with the last kick of the match against Osasuna, where seasoned hardman Walter Pandiani got yet another goal; his sixth of the season. Xerez fell to a miserable defeat away to Tenerife, a match where they showed little ambition and in which coach Ziganda again baffled with his strange team selection; Alfaro scoring with a powerful header. And finally, Villarreal got their season back on track after a 2-1 home win against Malaga. Goals from Nilmar and Capdevila were enough to get the ´Yellow Submarine´ off the bottom.

Barcelona 6 - 1 Zaragoza
Almería 0 - 3 Valencia
Valladolid 4 - 0 Deportivo
Getafe 2 - 0 Athletic
Racing 1 - 1 Osasuna
Tenerife 1 - 0 Xerez
Villarreal 2 - 1 Málaga