Barca wins El Clasico!

Ex-Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster turned out to be right in his declaration. Although Los Galacticos were able to stave off various chances by Barcelona, in large part due to Iker Casillas, Barca ended up taking the Clasico in the Camp Nou and extending their league lead to nine points over their rivals.

Barcelona played some wonderful, flowing soccer, but Casillas kept them off the scoredboard with some incredible saves, including a save on Samuel Eto'o's penalty kick shot in the second half. However, Barcelona were able to finally break through in the 83rd minute on a corner kick. Carlos Puyol flicked the ball and it found Eto'o in front of Casillas for an easy tap in to give Barcelona the lead.

In the 91st minute, Lionel Messi scored yet again on a counter to finish of Real Madrid in a convincing 2-0 victory in which Barcelona had possession for more than 70% of the game. Real Madrid have managed to obtain only 3 out of the last 12 points in league play.

In the other La Liga game, Valencia defeated Espanyol 2-1.

In England, Aston Villa defeated Bolton 4-2 to see them move into fourth place as Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw against Middlesborough. Hull City went two up on Liverpool FC before Gerrard scored two goals to manage a draw in Anfield, while Manchester United and Tottenham played to a 0-0 draw in White Lane Park.

In Italy, Napoli defeated Lecce 3-0, while Bologna striker Marco Di Vaio scored a hat trick (leads Serie A with 12 goals) to lead his side to a 5-2 victory against Torino.