Lionel Messi scored, what was to be the winning goal, in a 1-0 victory over Getafe and push Barcelona closer to the La Liga title with only seven games left to play. Chasing Real Madrid also won 1-0 away at Recreativo Huelva whilst Valencia move up to fourth following their 3-1 win over Sevilla.
The little Argentinian struck his 20th league goal this season after 19 minutes in a dominant display at Getafe’s Coliseum stadium. Messi picked up Xavi’s pass in the box and proceeded to skip around a group of defenders. He then struck a deflected shot that had enough power to beat goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic.
Head coach Pep Guardiola spoke about his sides good physcial shape after the match. “All wins are important but it’s a fact that there are only seven matches left and every victory gives us a great deal. We came here after a very hard match in Munich (against Bayern) and we played well in the first half. In the second, we weren’t so good but Getafe didn’t get near our penalty area once.”
In Huelva, it was down to full back Marcelo to break the deadlock although captain Raul had struck a post just after the half hour. The Brazilian raced on to Fernando Gago’s pass and finished coolly past keeper Asier Riesgo to give Real a 15th win in 16 matches since they lost 2-0 to Barca at the Nou Camp in mid December.
La Liga Round Up 19/04/09
Almería 2 – 1 Osasuna
Espanyol 1 – 0 Racing Santander
Real Betis 2 – 0 Sporting Gijón
Real Valladolid 0 – 0 Villarreal
Valencia 3 – 1 Sevilla
Athletic Bilbao 0 – 1 Deportivo La Coruña
Atlético Madrid 3 – 0 Numancia
Getafe 0 – 1 Barcelona
Málaga 1 – 1 Mallorca
Recreativo Huelva 0 – 1 Real Madrid
