Brilliant Barca celebrate joy of six

Published: 22 Mar 2009 - 23:15:00

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Barcelona maintained their six-point lead at the top of the Primera Liga with a 6-0 mauling of Malaga at the Nou Camp on Sunday night.Pep Guardiola's side were magnificent - especially in a first half which saw them score four times as Malaga, who started the day just five points outside the Champions League places, were torn apart.Xavi got the ball rolling - with Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o also getting on the scoresheet in the opening 45 minutes.Dani Alves made it 5-0, and Eto'o completed the rout 11 minutes after the break.Second-placed Real Madrid remained in touch with Barca thanks to a 3-0 defeat of Almeria at the Bernabeu.Marcelo opened the scoring, and Klaas Jan Huntelaar continued his rich vein of form with two second-half goals.Atletico Madrid's bid to return to the Champions League next season faltered in a 2-0 defeat at Real Mallorca, for whom Aritz Aduriz and Gonzalo Castro were on target.Real Betis drew for the fourth successive time, coming from behind to secure a valuable point against high-flying Deportivo La Coruna.An early goal from Joan Verdu appeared to have put the Galicians firmly on course for victory at the Riazor, but a neat finish from Sergio Garcia drew the visitors level shortly after the half-hour mark.Ten-man Valencia revived their fading hopes of a top-four finish with a gutsy 1-0 win over Racing Santander at El Sardinero.The crisis club overcame a host of injury problems and the dismissal of defender Alexis early in the second half to seal a valuable three points with a late goal from substitute Juan Mata.However, Los Che did ride their luck to register their first clean sheet in 24 attempts when Oscar Serrano missed a penalty deep into stoppage time.Roberto Soldado bagged two goals in as many minutes as Getafe came from behind to record a valuable 2-1 victory at home to fellow strugglers Recreativo Huelva.Getafe dominated for much of the game but found themselves behind when Cristian Maidana struck two minutes after the break.However, Soldado equalised in the 64th minute and scored what was to prove the winner shortly afterwards to earn Getafe their first victory in two months - which sees them leapfrog their opponents into 13th place.They are still only two points above the relegation zone - while Recre, who have won just once in eight games, are three places and a point below them in a congested bottom half of the table.Numancia gave their survival chances a boost with a hard-fought 2-1 win over fellow promoted side Sporting Gijon.Jose Javier Barkero gave the Soria-based team the lead from the penalty spot just before half-time, but the hosts were pegged back by David Barral a minute after the break.Asier Goiria put Numancia back in front eight minutes later - but they were forced to defend stoutly after Juan Carlos Moreno was sent off with more than half-an-hour still remaining.Sporting were unable to take advantage, though, and were reduced to 10 men themselves when Carmelo Gonzalo saw red with five minutes left.Javad Nekounam's injury-time strike gave Osasuna a 1-0 home win over relegation rivals Espanyol, who remain bottom and are eight points from safety.