Spain: Eto'o modest after goal blitz

Samuel Eto'o claims he was not man-of-the-match despite scoring four times in Barcelona's 6-0 rout of Real Valladolid.

The Cameroon striker bagged a quartet of goals in the first half before being replaced in the 75th minute to a standing ovation from the Camp Nou crowd.

"I don't think I have ever scored four goals in the same match before," admitted Eto'o. "But I do not think I was the man-of-the-match. I did my job, which is to put the ball in. The team played fantastically and against a brave team, who came here to play. We are working very well. You have the feeling that it's easy for us, but it is all the result of working well and hard.”

Meanwhile, Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart has urged everyone connected with the club to remain calm amid their current turbulent spell.

The Spanish champions came from behind to defeat Malaga 4-3 at the Bernabeu on Saturday evening despite losing Sergio Ramos to a first-half red card.

The dramatic victory was Real's first game since losing 2-0 at home to Juventus in the Champions League and van der Vaart has admitted their current inconsistent form is a concern.

"It's hard to explain why we've been so inconsistent. We are conceding a lot of goals at the moment, but I think it's just a bad streak," said the Netherlands international. "But if we stay calm, we will be able to play better. We shouldn't allow it to make us nervous because it will only get worse if we did.”

Valencia coach Unai Emery admitted the points rather than the performance were important after returning to winning ways with a 3-0 dismissal of Getafe.

A previously in-form Los Che had failed to win their three previous matches before goals from Manuel Fernandes, Joaquin and Vicente killed off the ten-man Madrid club on Sunday evening.

"The important thing is that we got the victory because we were very focused and we had a winning mentality," said Emery. "It was important for us to keep a clean sheet and strengthen the morale in the squad."