Almeria 0 - 8 Barcelona
As preparations for a Clasico go, it doesn't get much better than this. Almeria were ripped to shreds by a rampant Barcelona who showed signs that they are hitting top form at just the right moment. From the moment the first ball was kicked it was a barrage of attacks from Barca as Lionel Messi, Pedro and David Villa picked off the Almeria defence at will. The Almeria players had stated they would fight to save their managers job, but they were utterly outclassed by an unforgiving Barca team. Xavi and Iniesta had the freedom of the park to control the match from the middle, while the ease with which Messi and Pedro got into scoring positions was embarrassing at times. There's no doubt playing against this Barcelona side in this form is a daunting task for any team, but once the third goal went in after 26 minutes, heads dropped and you feared for Juanma Lillos men. It was hard not to feel sorry for them.
As it turned out Barcelona racked up an incredible eight goals, the first time they have done so for over half a century. Not even when they were 0-5 up at half-time did Barca take the foot off the pedal, surely desparate to strike fear into Real Madrid. It was incessant. Messi grabbed a lethal hattrick, Andres Iniesta took advantage of a defensive mishap to sidefoot in. Pedro showed lightning speed to latch onto a superb long ball from Hector Font to nick the ball past a crestfallen Diego Alves. Bojan came on as a second-half substitute to score twice and stake a solid claim for some kind of a role next Monday. Barcas performance was brutal. Unforgiving. The final whistle brought an end to the home sides misery and marked the end of Juanma Lillos reign at Almeria. What a way to go. For Barca, though, it was the perfect way to warm up for next Mondays big one.
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