La Liga : Real Madrid And Barca win to maintain Top Places
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Lionel Messi was struck in the midst of this goal celebration after Sergio Busquet’s last-gasp winner. Photograph: Heino Kalis/Reuters
Valencia 0 Barca 1
Lionel Messi was struck by a bottle during the goal celebrations as Barcelona left it late to win 1-0 at Valencia on Sunday and trim the gap to Real Madrid, La Liga leaders, back to two points.
Both sides had plenty of chances in a scrappy game at the Mestalla that was settled when Sergio Busquets smashed in a loose ball in the fourth minute of added time.
The Argentina captain Messi, who had a quiet night after setting a league scoring record last weekend, appeared to be struck on the head by a plastic bottle, seemingly thrown from the crowd, while his team-mates piled on top of each other to celebrate the goal. He received some attention from a club physio but did not look hurt.
Barcelona should have been ahead in the 14th minute when Valencia’s goalkeeper, Diego Alves, produced a superb save to deny Luis Suárez, who is yet to open his account in La Liga since his ban for biting expired at the end of October.
The Uruguay international, who joined from Liverpool in the close season, then had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside in the 69th minute. The visiting keeper, Claudio Bravo, was also on fine form and conjured brilliant stops to deny second-half efforts from Sofiane Feghouli and Álvaro Negredo, while Gerard Piqué cleared Rodrigo Moreno’s effort off the line.
Messi started Barcelona’s game-clinching move with a lobbed pass that Neymar header powerfully at Alves, who did well to turn away the ball only for Busquets to drill it back past him.
“We were lucky in the last minute to grab the three points,” said Busquets. “A draw is never enough and we had to try until the very end.”
Real Madrid
Real Madrid set a new club record by picking up their 16th consecutive win in a 2-1 victory at Malaga on Saturday night.
Karim Benzema got on the end of a Cristiano Ronaldo cross to poke home the first before Gareth Bale hit the second with seven minutes remaining. The only negative part of the evening was the sending off of former Malaga star Isco, who was given his marching orders for two yellow cards, and a 92nd minute consolation from Roque Santa Cruz.
In sealing another victory, Madrid extended their remarkable winning sequence to 16 games -- breaking Miguel Munoz's 1960-61 record that had previously been matched by Jose Mourinho's team in 2011-12.
Real Madrid head coach Carlo Ancelotti praised his players as they registered a record 16th consecutive victory in all competitions with a 2-1 win over Malaga.
The Champions League winners have scored 59 goals, conceding just nine, in their run which has been going since the 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid on Sept. 13.
Carlo Ancelotti's men also extended their lead at the top of La Liga to five points with second placed Barcelona due to play Valencia on Sunday.
Athletico Bilbao
Athletic Bilbao survived a late scare to beat Getafe 2-1 away from home and bolster their fine recent record to an impressive four wins in six league matches.
Mikel San Jose and Benat struck towards the end of either half to earn victory, before Angel Lafita's goal in injury time spurred an even later scramble in the Athletic box.
However, Ernesto Valverde's side clung on to move to 18 points in the Primera Division, opening up a distance of four points over their hosts from Madrid.
Getafe had lost their previous match to Villarreal despite being the better side for large periods at El Madrigal, but they were comfortably the second best team in front of their own fans until the attempted fightback in the closing stages.
Espanyol
Espanyol came from behind to beat Levante 2-1 on a rain-soaked evening at the Power8 stadium to pick up their first win in six matches.
Jose Luis Morales gave the visitors a 12th-minute lead which was quickly cancelled out by Felipe Caicedo, and with nine minutes to go before half-time Sergio Garcia scored a tremendous goal which proved to be a worthy winner.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere, Manu's smart first-half finish earned Eibar a shock 1-0 win at Celta Vigo.
The forward, on loan from Sevilla, tucked home a through pass just moments after seeing an even better chance saved by goalkeeper Sergio.
Celta could find no way to break down their opponents, who bounced back from two straight defeats to move up to 10th in the Primera Division.
Malaga
Real Madrid