Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
Barcelona stay top of La Liga after getting the better of the Catalan Derby on Saturday night. After disposing of Real Madrid eight days ago, they faced another all important fixture in the race for the Spanish title. They and Zinedine Zidane’s side stay level on points after Real snatched a late winner at home to Valencia that same day.
In what was a tight first half there was very little to choose between the two sides as Espanyol looked to frustrate their Catalan cousins, but there would be a different story after the break when Luis Enrique’s band of superstars managed to step up through the gears.
The deadlock would be broken just five minutes after the break when Luis Suarez took full advantage Jose Manuel Jurado’s reckless backpass, the former Liverpool does not turn down those opportunities and he slid the ball past Diego Lopez to give first blood to Barcelona.
That goal took the wind out of Espanyol’s sails and Barcelona begun to carve their authority into the game, the result would be all but a formality with 15 minutes to go as Ivan Rakitic scored his second goal in the space of the week. He scored Barcelona’s second against Real Madrid and he would do the same on Saturday.
With the three points all but in the bag, Espanyol’s heads dropped further and in injury time they would present Luis Suarez with another gift. The Uruguayan scored his second and Barcelona’s third of the night to put the icing on this Catalan derby victory cake.
They may be top of the table but they need to see the gap extend further or ask Celta Vigo to do them a massive further and that is beating arch rivals Real Madrid when they finally face off in their game in hand.
Here is all you need to know from Saturday
