MADRID, Sept. 25-- FC Barcelona continued to show they are the team to beat in the BBVA Primera Liga with a 5-0 thrashing of Atletico Madrid on Saturday night in what was the outstanding game of the fifth round of games in Spain. Atletico Madrid travelled to the Camp Nou stadium with their optimism in the clouds after two 4-0 wins in which striker Radamal Falcao had scored five goals. However, Barcelona produced an outstanding first half: David Villa put the home side ahead after nine minutes. Joao Miranda was unlucky to double Barca's lead with an own goal after 15 minutes. Leo Messi added a third goal after 25 minutes to virtually assure the win. Messi then scored a fine solo goal 12 minutes from time and finished off his hat-trick in injury time with a powerful left foot shot from a narrow angle. It was his eighth goal of the season. Cristiano Ronaldo scored two penalties as Real Madrid left their crisis behind with a 6-2 win over Rayo Vallecano in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. However, the result was slightly misleading as Madrid had to work much harder than the final score implies. Rayo took the lead after just 12 seconds thanks to a goal from Michu and there were nerves in the Bernabeu until Ronaldo equalized five minutes from the break and Gonzalo Higuain put Madrid ahead on the stroke of halftime. Ronaldo's first penalty of the night made it 3-1 after 51 minutes, but Michu's second goal of the night brought Rayo right back into the game. |