Barca held as Madrid move 7 points clear

MADRID: Barcelona dropped precious points in a 0-0 draw at Villarreal on Saturday night to slip seven points behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
Earlier Kaka, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mesut Ozil had scored to help Real Madrid beat Zaragoza 3-1 and pile the pressure on Barca, who never convinced against a well organised Villarreal.
In a tight match with both teams relying on their passing games to create space, goal opportunities were rare and what Barca did create was stopped by an inspired Diego Lopez in the home team’s goal.
The first chance came on three minutes when Dani Alves found himself clear with just Lopez to beat at close range, but the Villarreal goalkeeper stood tall and blocked the Brazilian’s weak shot.
Five minutes later Villarreal conjured up some quick passing that produced an opening for Ruben Gracia ‘Cani’ who produced a good save from Victor Valdes.
Lionel Messi was then sent clear for a one-on-one with Lopez which saw him gently lob the ball over goalkeeper only to watch the ball gently roll inches wide.
Javier Mascherano was at hand to clear a wayward Gerard Pique header from the Barcelona goal-line and Villarreal were suddenly creating the better chances.
Marco Ruben shot high on 35 minutes after strong run took him clear and then Marco Senna brought an acrobatic save from Valdes.
Pep Guardiola made a tactical change on the hour mark, taking off Pique and replacing him with Alexis Sanchez, but the all important three points seemed a long way from Barca’s grasp. AFP
Angel Lafita gave bottom side Zaragoza an early lead in the Santiago Bernabeu but the leaders were dominant throughout and could have scored more than three goals in reply.