Spain: Real's magnificent seven leaves goal-shy Barça trailing

(GETTY IMAGES)

Barcelona have goal-scoring problems just nine days ahead of their Champions League encounter with Celtic. In contrast their title rivals, Real Madrid, have no such worries. The leaders rattled in seven as they battered Valladolid at the Bernabeu last night scoring more in one match than Barcelona have managed in their last seven.

Barça have not scored more than once in a game for seven matches, and even with nine absentees at the weekend coach Frank Rijkaard still chose to start without the unfit and out-of-form Ronaldinho. Leo Messi hasn't scored for over two months, and Thierry Henry did not train yesterday after having had to come off 13 minutes into the second half of the 1-1 draw at Seville, complaining of a hip problem.

Real Madrid, meanwhile were extending their lead at the top to eight points with Guti and Raul both netting twice and Arjen Robben, Julio Baptista and Royston Drenthe all getting on the score sheet. Everything that had been beyond Ronaldinho the previous evening.

When the Brazilian came on as a second-half substitute his four wasted free-kicks, a selection of loose passes and a mis-hit shot showed why Rijkaard had started the match with 18-year-old Mexican Giovani Dos Santos instead.

Leo Messi could not break his own scoring drought which stretches back to 24 November but it was his clever through ball that sent Xavi away to score Barça's equaliser and his mazy run that forced Seydou Keita into a rash challenge that earned him his second yellow card. Reducing them to 10-men helped prevent Seville from re-establishing the lead given them by Diego Capel in the first half when he turned in a Jesus Navas cross on 34 minutes. "We deserved the victory," Capel said. "Barça had one shot on goal and they scored. But we take a lot from the game because of the way we played."

Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster was keen to point out that his team's victory had been achieved without the injured Ruud van Nistelrooy and three first choice defenders. He said: "The most positive thing to take from the game is that the team responded to an emergency. We were missing people but those that came in did their jobs."