Barcelona squander head-to-head advantage against Real Madrid

BARCELONA — Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Real Madrid in Sunday’s ‘Clasico’ may have put them four points clear at the top of La Liga but they will be kicking themselves for not taking a host of second-half chances and grabbing the head-to-head advantage.

If Real manage to draw level on points with their great rivals over the remaining 10 games — and they have what looks on paper like a slightly easier run-in — they will snatch the title as they beat Barca 3-1 in Madrid in October.

Head-to-head record is used before goal difference to separate teams with equal points and Real famously pipped Barca to the title in 2006-07 despite having scored 12 fewer goals and conceded seven more.

Any disappointment Barca coach Luis Enrique and the players may be feeling on Monday morning will be outweighed by their joy at seeing off Real at the Camp Nou, thanks to a superb Luis Suarez goal 11 minutes after halftime.

Watched by almost 100,000 fans packed into the giant stadium and millions more around the world, Jeremy Mathieu had put Barca ahead in the 19th minute before Cristiano Ronaldo levelled for Real in the 31st minute.

“For the moment it is the most important goal I have scored for Barca and it has an extra significance considering who we were playing,” a jubilant Suarez, who debuted for the club in October’s ‘Clasico’ after a four-month ban for biting, told reporters.

“There is a long way to go and we know that winning the league is going to be very tough,” added the Uruguay striker. “Just like in all the leagues, you never know what can happen if you relax just a little.”

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti and his players, meanwhile, will be wondering how they let slip a match they seemed to be well in control of after Ronaldo’s leveller.

The Portugal captain was almost completely anonymous in the second half and Real’s Wales winger Gareth Bale also made little impact.

“In the end we suffered because of a slight lack of cool heads in our efforts to equalise,” Ancelotti told a news conference.

“We played too many long balls without a clear idea,” added the Italian. “It was a good hour, and 30 minutes that weren’t so good.”

Spain 

Sevilla piled the misery on Villarreal with a Coke strike setting them on the way to a 2-0 victory in La Liga following their midweek Europa League triumph over the same opponents. 

England 

Chelsea are six clear with a game in hand at the top after a 3-2 win at Hull City but the main drama was in the fight for the fourth Champions League qualifying place with Juan Mata scoring twice in Manchester United’s 2-1 win at Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard was sent off for stamping on Ander Herrera 38 seconds after coming on as a halftime substitute as United moved five points clear of their fifth-placed rivals.

Arsenal are a point ahead in third after a 2-1 victory at Newcastle United with second-placed Manchester City a further point in front following a 3-0 win over West Bromwich Albion which featured another referee sending off the wrong player. 

Germany 

Borussia Moenchengladbach shocked Bayern Munich with a 2-0 victory but the champions are 10 points clear at the top of the table despite their first home loss in almost a year.

Brazilian Raffael struck twice for Gladbach, who stayed firmly in third place and on course for the Champions League, with second-placed VfL Wolfsburg seven points ahead after stumbling to a 1-1 draw at Mainz 05.

Bayer Leverkusen beat Schalke 04 1-0 courtesy of Karim Bellarabi’s winner in their battle for a Champions League playoff spot, opening up a six-point gap to the fifth-placed Ruhr Valley club. 

Italy

Juventus triumphed 1-0 at home to mid-table Genoa after striker Carlos Tevez scored a magnificent first-half goal and later missed a penalty.

Juve’s third straight victory by the same scoreline meant they maintained a 14-point lead over AS Roma, who won 1-0 at Cesena.

Jeremy Menez scored twice to help beleaguered AC Milan beat Cagliari 3-1 in front of a sparse San Siro crowd as fans responded to a request to boycott the match in protest at the club’s leadership.

France

Paris St Germain went top of Ligue 1 with a 3-1 home win over Lorient on Friday and stayed there after Olympique Lyonnais, a point behind, slumped to a shock 2-1 home defeat against 10-man Nice on Saturday.

Olympique de Marseille, a point further back in third, thumped Racing Lens 4-0 away on Sunday with Michy Batshuayi grabbing a double. 

Netherlands 

Anass Achahbar scored two dream goals for Feyenoord as they beat runaway leaders PSV Eindhoven 2-1 to delay their opponents’ march to the Dutch league title.

PSV’s slip enabled champions Ajax Amsterdam to cut the gap at the top to eight points when Davy Klaassen conjured up a late winner in their 1-0 home victory over ADO Den Haag.

Portugal

Portuguese league leaders Benfica suffered a 2-1 defeat at Rio Ave, succumbing to two late goals and briefly offering unexpected hope to their nearest pursuers.

However, Porto, Benfica’s major rivals for the title, missed out on a golden opportunity to close the gap at the top to one point after only managing a 1-1 draw at Nacional de Madeira.

Greece 

Olympiakos Piraeus moved closer to a 42nd Super League title as a 3-0 home win against Kerkyra extended their lead to nine points over second-placed Panathinaikos, who suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at Veria.

Third-placed PAOK Salonica’s season continued to unravel with a 3-1 loss at Panthrakikos.