Barcelona claimed their fourth successive victory in the Primera Liga after crushing Atletico Madrid 3-0 at Nou Camp on Sunday. Portuguese playmaker Deco capitalized on a blunder by Atletico keeper Christian Abbiati to fire the hosts in front on the quarter-hour mark. Argentinean sensation Lionel Messi doubled the lead four minutes later and Xavi Hernandez completed the rout one minute from time. Barca are second in the league table with 17 points, two behind leaders Real Madrid, who secured a 2-0 home victory over Recreativo Huelva. Atletico lie sixth on 11 points. After 15 minutes, Messi raced down the right flank and sent a tamed low cross, which Abbiati failed to handle, allowing Deco to slot home into an empty net.
Van Nistelrooy on target The in-form Messi notched his sixth goal of the season when he superbly exchanged passes with Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho before firing a powerful left-footed shot into the bottom corner. Xavi put the icing on the cake just before the end when he connected with Giovani Dos Santos low cross to smash home from close range. Real Madrid maintained their position on the league's summit following a 2-0 win over Recreativo at Santiago Bernabeu, thanks to two late strikes from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Gonzalo Higuain. Dutch prolific Van Nistelrooy broke the deadlock in the 72nd minute after being set-up by strike partner Raul. Argentinean forward Higuain sealed the victory one minute before the final whistle after latching on to Guti's neat pass to poke home.
